I
write this post in order to express my feelings over a topic that is near &
dear to my heart as well as to deal with some of the hurt & anger I am
presently feeling over my association with what I have termed the
"Organized Church" (that is, most average, fundamentalist church
organizations residing most typically in buildings with steeples on their
roofs.)
It
is not my intention to "blast away" at churches as much as it is to
express some of the things I have seen & experienced in my 30+ years that I
believe hurt Saints & grieve the heart of God, in order that we may perhaps
begin as a "family" of Believers to deal with these issues so the
church may become what our Lord truly intended when he said "I am building
a Church whom the gates of hell will not be able to stand against."
In
January of this past years my family & I left a small Pentecostal church
that we had served in for 12+ years. It was with much anguish & pain that
we left, as we had served in many capacities over the years such as Sunday
School, Music Ministry, teaching Adult Bible Studies, Jail Teams, Counseling,
Missions Youth Group, etc, etc.. We had established many relationships &
felt a real security there for many years---feeling we were where God wanted us
to be.
Yet
there were also problems (as in any church where imperfect folks attend);
problems that got to be too much to handle that (I believe) were not handled by
Leadership in a proper manner---many times issues & problems were just
ignored with trite sayings such as "Well sure we have problems, but don't
complain! we are only human,,, if you find the perfect church out there don't
go cause you'll
ruin it!!...Ha!..Ha!..Ha!" ---To me when any church says this they are
just really making excuses to continue on in their mode of mediocrity; sure I
realize we will never see a perfect church & yet should we not deal with
issues & problems that are apparent to all & strive to be that Complete
Church w/out Spot or wrinkle!?
At
any rate, do not misread me here, I LOVE the Church of Jesus Christ where ever
it may be found (In a nice, clean white building, in a living room, in a coffee
shop, in a cave etc, etc), BECAUSE the church contains God's Sons &
daughters!
Believe me when I say LEAVING the organized church as it were, was one of the
hardest decisions I ever have had to make on this earth, because it REALLY goes
against my whole makeup as a person who loves tradition, stability, order &
structure, not to mention the fact that leaving church meant feeling as though
I had left God's plan for our lives.
At any rate as I pen this today almost 6 months later I realize that the
pendulum has swung back toward the middle of things as it were... whereas at
one time we were at every church meeting day & night for over 12 years
& most recently have not been in church much (if at all) I now believe we
may end up back in an (the) organized church but without such a pressure that
makes one feel condemned if they are not in attendance every Sunday. This has been much longer than I Thought so
I will continue in part two.....
1. CHURCH can never be a substitute for a personal relationship with Jesus.
I
have seen a subtle deception in many churches & with many church
leaders today involving this very concept. Even well meaning leaders of churches have I believe, fallen into
this trap. What I have seen many times
in a number of churches is a system that leads many
Christians feeling secure (though this is False) because they give enough $$,
attend enough services, participate in enough ministries, etc, etc.
These
Christians feel they are secure in the Lord because they go to a good church
NOT because of a steady, consistent relationship built with Jesus. Instead of using the RESOURCES in that
church to BUILD & DEEPEN their relationship with Jesus they have come to
depend on these programs & ministries for their security before God.
2.
CHURCH Attendance does NOT equal Fellowship
How
many times have you & I heard over the years from Pastors that we need to
come to church on a regular basis for FELLOWSHIP & w/ out such fellowship
we will die spiritually? Hebrews 10:25
is quoted again & again to teach this concept; we have all heard "…
FORSAKE NOT the assembling of yourselves together....!"
Yet
to me, in my experiences with in the church over many years, the true
scriptural idea of fellowship with my brethren was not fostered & did not
occur that often. The very structure & system of church services in the
average church work against this as we all come in & for an hour or so
hear 1 to 2% of the church get up (as we sit passively) & preach, exhort,
sing etc, to the rest of us.
In
Greek the word most commonly used word for fellowship is 'Koinonia' (I am sure
we all know this word!) & it means the following:
·
"Participation,
intercourse, intimacy, transparency"
To
me, basically the organized church as we know it does not provide for
relationships with others in this intimate manner. That is not to say that I
have not found such relationships in the organized church, but it has mostly
been up to me to seek them out & develop such relationships.
3.
CHURCH should be a means to an end NOT the end itself.
This
is similar to point # 1. What I really mean is that attending church &
being in good standing (i.e. - a leader, recognized & loved member
etc,) should not be our end all as Christians.
I
do not believe Jesus ever intended CHURCH attendance to be our Goal, but rather
to be another TOOL(along w/ Bible reading, prayer, etc) to help us develop
our relationship with HIM.
With
that in mind if I choose not to do "organized church" every week I
should not be judged by the brethren to be backslidden.
4.
CHURCH AUTHORITY (Pastors, leaders, elders) should be all about RELATIONSHIP
NOT RULERSHIP!
I
am so very weary of being involved in churches where the Pastor had to let all
within earshot know that HE IS "TOP DOG!" I believe true shepherds should be gentle, compassionate folks
who embody & foster intimate relationships with & among their
flock. Most "TOP DOGS" I knew
were aloof & austere folks who knew as much about personal
relationship/frienship as an average lumberjack knows about sailing the seven
seas!
As
an example of this aloof posture, my own Pastor of 12 years who I faithfully
served as a leader NEVER once asked me out for just a simple burger or cup of
joe to just shoot the breeze. Yes we
had many meetings over the years but they always involved either
a)
A
"Correction session" for yours truly or
b)
A church business session.
5.
Shepherds should be AMONG the sheep not OVER the Sheep
This
point is also similar to point #4, yet with a little different twist. An old man of God retired from the Pastorate
once told me as a true shepherd sometimes does, one needed to SMELL like the
sheep & always carry this scent (though sometimes rather unpleasant) with
them.
In
other words be a humble servant of the flock willing to get down in the sheep
dung with your folks to help them & show some compassion! Too many leaders
today are too busy letting folks know how important they are to God's plan
& that the people, “Just better SUBMIT to God's man of the hour or they
will fall!”
Josh
McDowell says "Rules w/out Relationship equals rebellion." When it comes to children, well I would say
this can also apply to church leaders & those entrusted to their care.
6.
CHURCH should be all about EMPOWERING People To do The works of Christ
This
last point truly has given me much grief over the years w/in the church
structure I have been involved in.
Too many times I have seen gifted folks go before church leaders with a
Gift or ministry Vision God has given them only to be discouraged, ridiculed,
blocked, etc because of jealousies, lack of faith, wanting to
over-control, etc.
True Church Leaders should be all about EMPOWERING, SUPPORTING, & ENABLING
THEIR Flock to to do the work of Christ in any way they can. True Church
leaders need to provide Support
& Resources to their flock to help them fulfill their call & then GET
OUT of the Way & Watch God Work!!!
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