It is a good thing to take a look back sometimes. Looking back can bring encouragement, but it can also bring remorse and guilt.
When looking back, we need to remember the past is forgiven and over. We can learn from the past, we can see where we’ve been and how far we’ve come, but we need to leave it there.
For my wife and me, looking back certainly shows us how much has changed. For many years, we were feeling something was wrong with us and our ‘church’ life. We had an inner stirring that there was more than attending a weekly service, listening to a few others doing all the talking.
We read about the first century church and many verses about everyone having a voice, everyone being a necessary part of the church. We read how Jesus is the head of the church and how each of us are equal parts he is using to build his Church.
We became so frustrated seeing such a difference in the modern-day church from what we felt church was to be, that we felt it best to move on. We are now outside the four walls; we are now being Church rather than going to church.
Looking back, there have been many changes in thoughts, interpretations and beliefs. Even though we aren’t in a church, we feel we are learning to depend more on our Father for guidance and truth. We are ready to show God’s love to everyone we come across during our day.
We no longer ask people where they go to church, we no longer worry about what denomination they belong to, or if they go to church at all. We want God to live through us daily and love people, without thought or concern of who they are or what they believe.
During this time, we’ve had more fellowship with other believers than we ever had attending a weekly service. Whether it involves meeting for coffee or dinner, or just sitting and talking, we learn more about people and are encouraged hearing how God is working in their lives.
Obviously, moving forward is the main goal. As Philippians 3:13, 14 says, ‘brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet, but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus’ (NASB)
Looking back can be a real encouragement to us when we look at it in regard to what God has done and where he has brought us. It we look at the past negatively, or with shame and guilt, then we need to forget it and realize that our past is done and forgiven. We need to move forward following the voice and leading of the Holy Spirit which is within us.
Synchroblog Bloggers looking back and looking forward this month:
- Done With Religion – Looking Back, But Moving Forward
- Mark Votava – Learning to Love: Crossing a Decade of Rootedness
- Tara at Praying on the Prairie – A Year of New Beginnings
- Carol Kuniholm – Looking Back, Praying Forward
- Mary at lifeinthedport – roaring chickens: how i found my voice
- Moments with Michelle – The Year that Was: Looking Back at 2014
- Jeremy Myers – What I learned from almost following my GPS to my death
- Glenn Hager – Things I Don’t Ever Want to Forget
- Michelle Torigian – Looking Back at All the Stuff
- Fedex at His Urban Presence – A Year of Changes
- Charity at His Urban Presence – God is There
- Lisa Brown at Me Too Moments for Moms – Lessons from 2014
- Bram Cools – 2015: Looking Forward, Looking Back
Done with Religion 
So true, yes, Jesus is building his Church. We are the building blocks, not brick and mortar. We should, as you mentioned, continue to love and associate with those still in the organization, but we want to follow the leading of the Spirit in our daily walk. Thanks for the comment.
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I had my own difficult experiences with church life, and when looking back, discovered God was saying “go outside.” I continue to attend church, and to love the people there, but God has shown me a whole world of opportunity, adventure, and mission beyond the framework of the current established religious framework. I wonder how many others have been called to “go outside”? It seems God is rebuilding his church from the outside in, since the most embedded insiders refuse to listen or change. But when I look at the gospels, didn’t the same thing happen then?
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Thank you very much for your interesting comment. My wife and I have been going through some of the things you mention. We first wanted to find a house church, or start a home group. Now we are just taking it day by day, letting God lead us to others to fellowship with anytime, anywhere. And moving forward, yes, it is an unknown area, but at least we know we are walking with our Father and listening for the guidance of the spirit within us.Of course the questioning part, so true. We’ve had more questions since leaving the institution, but questions aren’t bad. God can handle them. I think a lot of times we are taught not to question, just accept what the ‘church’ tells us. People still in the institution, like you said, certainly don’t understand us or the questioning part. And labels, you are right. They just don’t mean anything. Even the word christian doesn’t mean anything anymore. To me, when people hear the word christian, they associate it with a religion and then label you with their idea of what it means. Thanks again for your comment, and thanks for praying for us as we move forward in the spirit.
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It is sad to hear of those like you who are abused and betrayed by ‘the system’. Even worse, once we make the decision to leave it and follow God outside the walls, those still inside are the ones that still look down on us. We all are brothers and sisters in Christ if we are in or out, but it is time we love one another and accept each other and the walk we are taking with our Father. Thanks for your comment. I appreciate it.
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Yes, I have read it and really enjoyed it. I enjoy books by Wayne. Thanks for the info.
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Thank you Mike, for your honest and openness, two things largely missing IMHO, from the American Corporate Church.
When we leaven and venture out in the wilderness, out beyond the safety and security of the gate, we truly do not know what the Lord will bring us through. But the thing is, there is no template, He treats us as sons and daughters. Some may move into another type of gathering, others to nothing formal at all. Still others may leave the Christian religion altogether, seeing it for the man-made thing that is has become.
He becomes our structure and security,as it should be,
Not men, not groups, not affiliations, not memberships, not creeds, not some religious routine that becomes a prison for our soul!
The “forward” you speak of, is largely unknown. It is a pathless wilderness I believe, with no road signs or mile markers.
Religious folks truly cannot deal with this I find. It is too much unknown. So they choose the dry rut and routine of religion and continue to follow men who profit from their insecurity.
The wilderness also presents many, many questions, that force you to fall back on your own, intimate relationship and experience with the Father. Your dependence on Him grows, and you begin to hear His voice and to see His foot prints in the sand ahead of you. At times, you wander, and meander and wonder where you are, or if where you are is where He wants you to be. But He brings you back, in His own wise and wonderful way. If your heart is right, He will always bring you back.
Then you start to share this with religious people, even those who were once your friends and intimates. Many of them have no idea what you are sharing, as though it were a different language.
“Have you read so and so’s latest book?” they will say.
They don’t understand that these things no longer have any real practical value for where you are.
Labels no longer mean anything to you outside the gate, up on the hilltop. You are with with the Master, so really nothing like that matters any more.
You begin to ponder great mysteries and so many things the Bible does not address. And it doesn’t bother you because you are with Him after all. When He speaks you don’t want Him to quote scripture anyway, but to speak to you personally like He spoke to everyone back then when He was here in body.
I pray He will help us to look forward Mike, and to trust Him alone with what we encounter as we do so.
With grace.
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Have you read Finding Church: What if there is really something more? By Wayne Jacobsen. You might be blessed reading it.
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“Looking back can be a real encouragement to us when we look at it in regard to what God has done and where he has brought us.”
Two years ago I walked away from ‘church’ after suffering abuse and betrayal. It was the most painful and disillusioning thing I’d ever experienced. But in the time since then I have learned how to be free and real in my faith. I’m no longer trapped in a box of expectations and performance. I look back and see that what felt like death at the time, has brought me new life! I’m grateful :)
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