As I become more inclined to follow my feeling that the church of today is way off base of what God intended, the organized, man-made denomination, the ‘religious’ church, I continue to come across books and websites that confirm my thoughts.
Take for instance, the teaching of the church on tithing. We are constantly told we need to give our 10% to the church or we are robbing God. Wait a minute, wasn’t that in the Old Testament? Didn’t Jesus come to fulfill the law and provide grace for us? Follow the following links and read a different thought on tithing:
http://freebelievers.com/article/tithing-is-not-a-christian-doctrine
and
http://freebelievers.com/article/rethinking-the-tithe
Am I saying it is wrong to tithe? No. If you attend an organized church and you feel they are doing what God wants for them, yes, support it. But don’t feel you ‘have’ to tithe. Don’t let a pastor guilt you into giving because he uses some Old Testament verse to tell you that you’re robbing from God. Give because you love God and want to give. Give 1%, 5%, 10%, 50%, whatever you determine in your heart to give. We are free to give the amount we determine and are no longer under law and required to tithe.
Why get so caught up on being in a building each week, listening to one man (or woman) telling us what God is saying or what the Bible says. Doesn’t God’s word say that we now have the Holy Spirit to teach us?
Am I saying it is wrong to go to church? Of course not. I do believe the modern-day organized church is not in line with what God intended, and I do believe we do not have to attend any organized church. Some will say the Bible says don’t forsake the assembling of yourselves together. That is true, but it does not say you have to assemble together anywhere in particular. Meet up with other believers in a restaurant, or invite them to your home for a meal and a time of fellowship. That is what I feel the Bible is talking about. Check this article to see what I mean:
http://freebelievers.com/article/the-flabby-body-of-christ-why-is-church-so-dull
In our day and age, it is time to get over the man-made religion and the church building being the center of our Christian life and realize there is more. Most churches today are more of a social meeting place or a big business than anything. We should focus on Jesus and build our relationship with him and realize that WE are the Church and the Holy Spirit lives within us, making us the dwelling place of God. We are the temple of God. We need to build our fellowship with God and with one another. This doesn’t need to be done in a building with an organized service, but in spending time with our brothers and sisters in Christ, helping one another and talking about God and His love for us. Others should be able to know that we are Christians because of the love we have for one another.
Hi Michael,
I just stumbled on your new blog, and may our Good Lord lead you in being a blessing to His people in this dark hour. Please feel free to stop round any time.
Our All-Knowing Master did foresee the degenerate and degraded condition of His testimony down through the centuries leading up to His return. So we too, should not be overly surprised or even alarmed, but should look to Him for all guidance and authenticity regarding how we are to walk in this world. It is interesting to note that while so many churches emphasize tithing or other formalized arrangements, the truth of the matter is that in this dispensation, the Lord claims everything we are and everything we hold as His own. Not merely 10%. Everything! “You are not your own…” said Paul to the Corinthians. All that you are belongs to the Lord. You are a bond-slave with no rights or claims to anything. That this is the narrow way, is the reason so few of His blood-washed saints are willing to accept it.
And yet we give freely and entirely out of absolute love for our Lord and and the Father. In the so-called sermon on the mount, the Lord extends all aspects of the law deep into the spiritual realm, into the very heart, into the life and reality of the spirit. All that was on the surface, and merely outward and form, must give way to the reality of a living service in the spirit. Offerings are no different, and the principle is the same. All prescriptions of the law were mere shadows of a reality that Christians can experience if they prove faithful and are willing to release everything into the Masters care and stewardship.
And regarding coming out of formal groups and organizations – this is fine but we must be careful that we do not go seeking some other group or method or hired servant standing in the place of our true and only High Priest and Shepherd. I see so many who go from place to place, form to form, method to method, group to group – and this is not what stepping out of the boat, into the wind and waves and storm requires. We must step out certainly, but then we must move towards the Lord alone (not back to the security of the boat, whatever that means to each of us personally).
http://livingwalk.wordpress.com/2010/03/03/faith-the-wind-the-water-and-the-faithful-one/
May our Gracious Father bless you and keep you my brother.
LikeLike