To begin this final part of my church history, remember I have been part of the traditional church organization for 40 some years at this point.
After our last pastor moved out of state and that church faded into history, we found a church that had interested us and excited us for a year or two. A friend of mine had told me about it and it sounded great to us. It was a non-denominational church and since our last church was gone we decided to give it a try.
This church was a little larger than what we were used to but was not a mega-church. The people were very friendly and there were so many activities in which to participate. We really liked that they gave food to the homeless and the poor in the area, they handed out water at parades and did several community related activities. After some time we noticed that very few people tried to get to know us or spend time talking with us because they were so busy staying in groups with people they already knew. My wife actually called two different home group leaders and tried to find out information on joining the group but was met with resistance from leaders who did not seem to want ‘new’ people in their group.
It was at this time I was feeling a real dissatisfaction with the church system. I felt there must be something more, this did not seem to be what Jesus meant when he said he would build his church. There was so much division and separation, no one was allowed to talk or discuss anything and only a select few had control of the service yet what I saw in the bible said we should all have a word, or a song, or a prayer. I read that Jesus was the head and each of us are equally important parts of his body. And what about the verse telling us we are the temple of the Holy Spirit and he dwells within us. I kept thinking about this and wondering why so many said the building was the church and they kept saying come to our church because the Spirit is going to fall and God is going to show up at this particular meeting. Yet the bible said the Spirit fell a couple thousand years ago upon the Church which was the people not a building. The Kingdom of God is within us and God is always with us, he is not going to show up at a special service when He is already within us.
It took us ten years at this particular church of going through the motions of getting up on Sunday morning, going to a service where we sat quietly looking at the back of someone’s head, going through the typical three songs, prayer, offering and listening to one person tell us their view of God, then getting up and walking out the door not seeing or hearing from anyone until the next Sunday. After several years of questioning and much dissatisfaction with the way the organized church seemed to be, we made the decision to leave the system and look to God for guidance. We began seeking the Holy Spirit to teach us because the bible says with the Spirit we do not need anyone else to teach us.
Of course we were told by several people that we should not forsake the assembling of ourselves with other christians, yet I could not find in the bible where that meant we had to do so in a building on a specific day at a set time. My wife and I started asking God to lead us to people who we could encourage and who would encourage us. It was not long until we started having chance encounters with people, most of who were going through or had gone through the same thoughts and feelings we were having.
We have found we have been more open to meet and accept people who were outside our style of worship, belief or lifestyle. We read in the bible where Jesus loved people and he did not separate himself by denominations or beliefs. Jesus was God in human form and God is love. We certainly did not always see a lot of love within the system because many seemed to think they were better than others or they had to stay away from certain people. So many felt they needed to point out the sins and mistakes of others or they were denying God.
We feel the Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin and it is not our job do point out where others may be wrong, if they are wrong at all. The Spirit will do the job of pointing out what needs to be changed and dealt with, we as followers of Christ are only called to love.
Since being out of the system for about two years now, neither of us have any reason to return. We have put our dependence on God and the Spirit for guidance and we are finding more and more believers to have fellowship with outside the walls of the traditional church. We would certainly not tell anyone not to go to church if that is what they want to do. For myself I had many years within the system that were good and meaningful. I learned many things and had many good experiences in the system. My wife and I were not abused or hurt by the church but we felt a real unrest with the system and after being out of it we have found more meaningful fellowship and a closer walk with God than we ever did in the past.
Will we ever return to the church system? I do not know. Right now I would say no because we have found a freedom and a dependence upon God that we never knew within the system. Yet we want to follow God and do what he leads us to, so if that would be where he wanted us sometime in the future then we would return.
I personally feel the system is wrong, not the people. There are many people within the organization that truly love God and are seeking to do what pleases him. There are many pastors and church workers who feel they are doing what they were called to do and I will not fault them for that. I think the organization is the problem. The organization is dependent on human leadership and human interpretation which causes division. I do not believe the church system is what Jesus was talking about when he said he would build his church. The Church is the people, not a building, not an organization.
If you are satisfied within the church system then stay where you are until you feel God leading you to something else. If you feel the same unrest in your soul that we did for many years and are thinking of leaving the organization then do so without any guilt. The Kingdom of God is within us. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We can have fellowship any day, any place, any time when God brings us together for a meal or a time of talking or praying with another person or two. We want to live each day of our lives in fellowship with the Spirit, listening for his guidance and showing the love of God to any he brings along our path.
So this brings us to the end of my church history as I knew it growing up. Yet it is not the end of my Church history because I am, along with every believer, part of the Church. It is not a building, it is not a system, not a man-run organization but it is each and every one of us. Each of us are equally functioning parts of the body following Jesus who is head of his Church.
Thanks Richard. It is encouraging to know others feel the same way.
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Over the past 3 years I have traveled for work coast to coast and have attended 24 different churches. I feel your frustration and think a lot of folks do also. I love to tell people about Jesus and realize how the “organization” of religion is hurting discipleship of the lost. I agree with your blog and feel encouraged by the fact that someone else sees there is a problem. Thanks brother!
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Sadly we do see this a lot. Christians have become known more for what they are against rather than showing the love of the Father to others. Thanks for the comment.
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Thanks for this, Jim. “So many felt they needed to point out the sins and mistakes of others or they were denying God.” – what you are describing is the Yeast of the Pharisees, and it is rife. In fact I know of very few ‘live’ churches where it is absent altogether. In those churches they are far too busy doing what Jesus did – feeding the hungry; ministering to the poor – to have time to waste on condemning people!
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A friend of mine wrote an article along the same idea as I’m trying to express. It is at https://notesfromthebridge.wordpress.com/2016/10/02/how-the-body-of-christ-began/ . Thanks for commenting.
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Most all the “churches” I attended were evangelistic minded, yet just like most churches people are expected to come to them. I did not leave the system due to any lack of contact though. I was not hurt, mad or abused. I left because I felt the religious organization is not what Jesus meant when he said he would build his Church. We, the people are the temple of the Holy Spirit, it is not a brick and mortar building run by men with all their doctrines and programs. Fellowship is not sitting in a building for an hour looking at the back of the head of the person in front of you. The Church is each of us living our daily lives in the love and guidance of the Holy Spirit, letting him guide us to fellow christians for fellowship and encouragement. It can be a gathering of just 2 or 3 believers or several believers on any day and any place where each participates. Rather that sit in a building listening to one person talk and dividing ourselves up based on denomination, interpretation or doctrine the Church is daily going out showing the love of God to all they meet and being respectful and accepting of all people. The people that make up the Church see Jesus as the head not a pastor or priest. As members of his Church we are all equally important functioning parts of his body showing his love to everyone whether the are fellow believers, male/female, black/white, gay/straight, religious/atheist. This type of love and acceptance is normally not found within the walls of the traditional church system. No, I did not leave due to any particular reason other than being unsatisfied with the religious system that is led by a select few and that does not allow for the priesthood of all believers. It does not always show acceptance of people who do not believe the same way and does not allow the love of Jesus to flow out to all people. Each of us need to follow the path we feel God is leading us on. Some are satisfied in the traditional church system, some are not. I am one who was not satisfied and am happy to be outside the walls.
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It’s been interesting reading your three part post on the content of your personal journey through the churches, although I’m curious, in the above mentioned period, I’m noticing a distinct lack of evangelistic living for the Lord. Would you yourself describe any of the communities you regularly gathered in teaching and preaching places of worship, by which I mean to write, might it be that sharing their passion for the Lord outside of church grounds was an absent feature of the church communities you frequented?
I’m noticing many people complain about others having failed to make an effort, as in, they’re failed in that others failed to reach out to them, which speaks volumes of an enclosed, inward looking church. Of course, the people who complain to having not been contacted by their church after dropping out most likely weren’t contacting their church either, an unmade effort can and often is a two way street. 🙂
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We were fortunate to have been in churches that talked about grace, yet they still taught law also…..saved by grace, live by law. Just does not work. You are right, the church system has the basic same way of doing things and it involves one person leading and a select few to help. Does not sound like a priesthood of all believers to me. We also understand the guilty feeling about not attending, yet when we began to focus on the fact the we are the Church and we are the Temple of the Holy Spirit we began to enjoy the freedom of living each and every day under the guidance of the Spirit. Thanks Carol for your comment.
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Thank you for sharing your church history. It sounds so similar to mine.
It’s a relief not to have to get up early on Sunday mornings and get dressed for what’s called church. It took quite a while for me not to feel guilty about not attending. I really don’t remember the word “grace” ever being mentioned while attending. I had to come out of organized religion to even know what the grace of God is. I did learn a lot there, but they all have the same common denominator. Peace and grace to you and your wife.
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Thanks. Good point on ‘the church’. Thanks for commenting.
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I believe sharing your journey will be an encouragement to many. Elle’s comment made me laugh…it encouraged me. A favorite author/teacher/theologian of mine wrote concerning the Church, that “organization is for a purpose,but not the purpose itself”,and I think men lost sight of that.
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I think the church system has certainly missed it on community and the priesthood of all believers. Good things do happen within the organization but I think God has so much more and I am finding it outside the walls. Thank you for your comment.
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I can relate to the indifference in a larger church. After leaving what was technically an abusive church, I tried to stay in the system by attending a large Pentecostal church with programs out the wazoo. But only a handful of people ever introduced themselves to me and after a little over a year, I just gave up on the whole church thing. After leaving, there wasn’t one frazzlin’ phone call. Amazing, isn’t it?? The whole experience there was VERY scripted, almost a stage performance by the chosen few. It took a long time for me to break the “church habit”, but life is so much better now without all that.
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Good comment. I think God will bring people into your life for fellowship in his timing. I think it is common that once we leave the institution we immediately want to do something to create fellowship, yet we should step back and wait for the leading of the Spirit.
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The last paragraph says it all! I agree. Sometimes I still feel a twinge of guilt for not going to a building. But then I speak to people that go to church and they are either extremely overworked in ministries & serving or they are completely phony about how real people live. I don’t know where I’m supposed to gather with other christians right now as I don’t have any nearby christian friends and church is where the christians are, but I just think that even gathering with my husband and kids is “church” so I feel like I’m gonna be ok, you know? It’s very frustrating to go up against others who think I’m a heathen for walking away. My kids do attend a youth group but we don’t go to church there. It’s nice they allow them to attend, but I don’t buy into all the institutional crap they do. Like they are having a fund raiser and everyone is supposed to help. Nope. Kick my kids out if you don’t like it. I’m seriously too busy for that stuff right now and God leads me where he wants me to serve without them hounding me to help them.
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