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Christianity, Christ and the Religious World

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on June 24, 2015| 8 Comments »

When we think about Jesus, we automatically think of Christianity. Although the two are completely different.

Jesus didn’t come to start Christianity. Jesus was not a Christian. We are missing the whole point when we focus on religion rather than the real reason Jesus came to live among us. He came to show us the Father and the love He has for each and every one of us, no matter what we call ourselves or what group we belong too. He even loves those who don’t think he exists.

According to Wikipedia it is stated that according to some estimates, there are roughly 4,200 religions in the world. Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Jewish, Christianity and every other religion are all actually related. They are all human based ways of trying to please the God (or gods) they believe in and serve.

In regard to just Christian denominations, World Christian Encyclopedia says that world Christianity consists of 6 major ecclesiastical-cultural blocs, divided into 300 major ecclesiastical traditions, composed of over 33,000 distinct denominations in 238 countries. It certainly can’t be stated that people are not interested in some type of higher power.

We want to argue over religion and who is right, who is wrong. All the different religions of the world can’t agree on who we believe in or what is right. We even break it down more and argue within Christianity with all the different denominations, as we consider ourselves Catholic, or Methodist, or Lutheran, Presbyterian or part of the thousand other groups. We argue over whose interpretation is right and really don’t want to associate with those who feel differently.

Needless to say, we all have our interpretations, thoughts and ideas, but those just make us unique individuals. They were not intended to cause separations and divisions among us. We should be able to be ourselves and yet love and accept those who are different from us.

If we could get past the religious part of our beliefs and live in the freedom God provided, things would go much better. Rather than defend our denominational interpretations and our personal ideas, if we would love and accept others with the love of Christ, people would be more open to hear about our Father.

Christ-Christians

We are normally busy pointing out the mistakes of others, even our brothers and sisters in Christ who have a different view, and condemning those who we consider sinners. When we do so, the love Jesus told us to show everyone seems to get missed. I personally don’t think it is our job to convict people of their sins. Most people know their shortcomings already, and the Holy Spirit will convict the worldly of their sins, drawing them to repentance.

Jesus told us to love God and love others…period. When we focus on the gospels and the life of Jesus and realize that he didn’t condemn and point out the sins and mistakes of people, we can see a distinct difference from the way we act today. He only had an issue with the religious leaders who thought they were better than everyone else because of their works.

When it comes to saying I am a Christian, I am hesitant anymore because of the meaning it receives from most people. If being a Christian means a follower of Christ, someone who wants to be like Christ, and show the love of God to everyone, then I am for it. But if being a Christian is the typical church going, law following, condemning others way of life, I am done with that. In that sense, Christianity is not the answer, nor is any other man-made religion.

Jesus is not into religion. Jesus came to show the love of God to every human being no matter who they are or what they believe. Jesus crosses the barriers of religion and loves everyone. In the world today, we are the Jesus people see, and we should be ready to show the love and acceptance that he showed to everyone we meet.

You may be interested in reading an article on the same topic by my friend Glenn Hager. Read it here: http://www.glennhager.com/2013/05/17/did-jesus-start-a-religion/

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What are You Wearing?

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , , , , , on April 15, 2015| 4 Comments »

I took my wife to the store the other day, and as I was sitting in the car waiting on her, I observed some people going in and out who stood out based on their style of dress. A gentlemen in his late 50’s came out in a sun dress and carrying a purse, then two women in their 30’s walked in wearing small scarf-like head coverings, blue blouses and green skirts.

We all know of the Amish, Mennonite and various religious groups who dress modestly and alike, and of the various denominations that focus on women not wearing makeup, jewelry, pants, to low of tops or to short of dresses.

I have noticed that people make a point of dressing a certain way based on their beliefs, lifestyle, doctrine or religion. I have also noticed a lot of people who make sure they wear appropriate clothing, yet sometimes dress their inner spirit as mean, grumpy and unloving. It has always bothered me to see someone wearing a cross necklace or a group praying before eating, then treat people mean or uncaring.

I remember when I was younger I liked an evangelist that was fairly popular. His name was Bob Harrington and he was known as the Chaplain of Bourbon Street (anyone remember him?). He mentioned once that he wore certain colors of clothing based on what they meant to him, such as red for the blood of Jesus, and green for eternal life. Of course I had to go out and buy certain colors based on that, but what did that really mean to anyone? No one else knew what that meant and it did not make a difference to anyone else.

I wonder sometimes why it is we seem to put so much importance on our outward appearance, dressing the right way, wearing appropriate jewelry or images, yet we seem to forget our inner person.

It’s our inner self where the Spirit of God resides. It is his love and acceptance that really makes the difference, not our outward apparel.

It is just like living by law or grace, we want to do things to justify our relationship with God. Living by law is our way of outwardly trying to earn salvation and God’s love, yet we no longer live under the Old Covenant of Law. Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant and made a new agreement whereby He did all the work. It is by grace and his work that we are justified, holy and righteous. It is not our outward appearance but His spirit within us.

christian shirt

Our outward style can be anyway we feel comfortable, but it is the inward spirit that makes the difference. I think it is appropriate to dress modestly, but there are so many styles, and each of us are unique that we can dress according what we like, and let the loving Spirit of God be what really stands out in the way we love, accept and treat those we come in contact with each day.

When we base our christian witness on what we do outwardly and with our appearance, it is not going to make any difference in any one’s life. When we try to imitate someone and how they do things, it is not going to make any difference in any one’s life. It is only when we realize that God lives within us, and it is by His power that anything will happen. We are to allow Him to live through us, loving others and accepting them, no matter what their outward appearance.

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Questions and More Questions….Is that Wrong?

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , , , , , , on February 10, 2015| 10 Comments »

Do you find yourself questioning things more than you used too? I know I do.

As Christians, we’ve always been taught that we need to have the answers. Study to show thyself approved meant, you must have an answer for everything people come up with so you can prove your beliefs are right.

I remember having questions in the past, but I basically blew them off and buried them, thinking I was wrong to even think such things. As time went on, the questions kept popping up and I began to realize that questioning was not wrong.

I believe God accepts us, questions and all. I am hoping that one day I’ll have more answers, mostly for my own sake and not necessarily to defend my beliefs.

Welcometochurch

I think the modern-day church and religion in general do not like questions, at least not hard questions. Especially questions that make us wonder about the basic beliefs they teach. They like to have all the answers, and answers that fit into their particular belief and doctrine.

In his book ‘Dying to Religion and Empire: Giving up Our Religious Rites and Legal Rights’,  Jeremy Myers makes a statement that is oh so true: “And as is the nature with questions, asking hard questions rarely leads to answers, but only to more questions”

I think God is much bigger than what the church makes of him sometimes. They try to fit everything into a box and don’t like people asking questions that require out-of-the-box thinking.

It seems to me the spirit within, the spirit of truth, brings up questions that the religious system taught us and we always just accepted. Now, rather than suppressing these questions, I have allowed them to surface and truly seek God for guidance.

On February 9, 2015, Mick Mooney posted an article on Facebook, part of which says: “But who has the faith to ask questions with the intention of seeking the answers to them? Who can let their foundation be not a doctrine or dogma that must be defended, but Christ himself who needs no defense? For it is those who have their foundation solely upon Christ, who can walk in their faith without fear of questions, but rather they walk in their faith knowing that God is lighting their path with questions, and it is these very questions that are paving the path that the Spirit of God is guiding them upon”.

If you are feeling guilty for having questions, I have found it best to stop feeling that way and keep asking the questions. That is the best way to continue growing and learning in our walk with God. Even when we don’t get the answers, we should continue to be asking and seeking the truth from our Father.

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What’s Wrong with Saying “I Don’t Know”?

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , , , , , on August 27, 2014| 6 Comments »

To those of us who have grown up in ‘church’, have you ever felt that you needed to know all the answers?

When a non-believer questions your faith, or asks something about the bible, do you feel you have to know the answer and be able to explain it to them?

I know I have always felt that way. Although the more I think about it, and the more I run into people who have all sorts of questions, I have come to realize that I don’t have all the answers.

Even my wife and I talk and have questions we can’t answer. We’ve come to realize that God is too big for us to have Him all figured out. If we don’t have all the answers for ourselves, how could we have all the answers for everyone else?

Basically, questioning is not wrong. I think we’ve been taught that we shouldn’t question the pastor, the bible, our faith, even God, but God isn’t afraid of our questions. What is wrong with us saying ‘I don’t know’?

Do not know

Admitting that you don’t know does not mean you aren’t a good ‘christian’. Admitting that you don’t know doesn’t mean your faith is shallow or we don’t believe God.

If we knew everything, what kind of a God would we be serving anyway? The Spirit will be teaching us during our entire life here on earth, and we still won’t begin to know it all.

While Jesus was on earth, he basically told stories and parables. A lot of the time, he did not give a direct answer. He usually asked another question rather than give a direct, set answer. I suppose if he gave a direct answer, we would have made it a basic doctrine by now anyway.

Don’t be afraid to question. That is the best way to learn. God is perfectly capable of guiding us to the truth in His timing.

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Am I A Christian?

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , , on July 25, 2014| 14 Comments »

My wife and I question these days whether we should consider ourselves Christians or not. We think it all boils down to what we mean by Christian.

If being a Christian is being part of a religion that meets in a building on a particular day and follows set doctrines based on what denomination we belong to, then no, we are not Christians. If being a Christian is considered being part of a group that is basically just a different interpretation and belief from Jews, or Muslim, or Baptist, Methodist, Charismatic etc., then no, we are not Christians. If being a Christian is being part of a group that is opposed to all other religions and only accept those who believe like we do, then no, we are not Christians. If being a Christian has anything to do with religion, then no, we are not Christians.

In Acts 11:26, the disciples were first called Christians by people in Antioch. I always heard that they were called Christians because they were acting like Christ. The people there were calling them little Christ’s because of the way they showed the love and power of Christ. Now, if that is what is meant by being a Christian, then we are all in.

There are many ways we can described ourselves…believers, Christ followers, disciples of Christ, Christians. Yet, the name itself doesn’t really matter. What matters is how we live our lives. Is Christ preeminent? Are we living as one with him? Are we allowing the love of Christ to live through us, accepting others, loving others and being little Christ’s to all we meet? If not, the name really doesn’t make any difference.

When people see us, they should see Christ. He lives within us and we should be known for the love we have for him and for the love we have for our fellow man. Don’t worry so much about the label we use. Let Christ live through us each and every day with everyone we meet.

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We Aren’t Going to Agree

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , , , , on June 25, 2014| 8 Comments »

Is it aggravating to anyone else, or is it just me? I mean the fact that no matter what you believe, what your interpretation, someone always has a completely opposite view.

You get excited about hearing some truth that really connects, and the next thing you read an article by another Christian that completely disagrees with what you just heard.

Even more than that, most of us Christians get mad when someone disagrees with us and is different. We get on Facebook and make ourselves look crazy because we talk about brotherly love, then we fight and argue with someone because they interpret things differently….and mostly about things we can’t prove one way or the other.

We really have to stop and think that whatever it is we believe, whatever our interpretation, everyone is not going to agree with us. There is no reason for us to get mad at someone else for being different.

This life is all a matter of faith. No matter what it is spiritually speaking, no one can really prove what is right and what is not. Just because someone has a different interpretation doesn’t mean they are right or wrong.

We need to keep our ears open to the leading of the Spirit, and follow on our own path looking to Jesus. That does not mean any and every path is the right one, but we can’t be the judge of who is right and who is wrong. Jeremy Myers, in his book ‘Dying to Religion and Empire’ states, “The beautiful thing about following Jesus is that while He leads us all in the same direction, there are millions of different paths He can take to get us there. His goal, of course, is to advance the Kingdom of God on earth through the people of God who are being conformed into the image of God”. We need to follow Christ as he leads us individually, and then be ready to love all people, no matter if they are on the same path or not.

Let’s stop arguing, fighting, and demanding that everyone agree with us, and love those we meet along the journey. I think God is big enough to lead us all to His truth in His timing.

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New Life

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , , on March 19, 2014| 13 Comments »

At this time of year, new life is a welcome sight. Trees start budding, plants start showing signs of life, the grass starts to green up. It is a good time of year.

Spiritually speaking, for my wife and myself, this is a time of new life also. Not in the sense of rededication or recommitting our life to God, but of a new way of looking at things, of new truths being revealed.

We both grew up in organized religion and followed certain doctrines and specific beliefs. After nearly 58 years in the system, our dissatisfaction with what we were seeing, and many questions we had about some of the things we had been taught, finally brought us to a point of leaving.

Having been out of organized religion for a year now, we have found that it is a time of new life for us. We have a new dependency on fellowship with the Father and with other brothers and sisters, even though it is outside the four walls of what we call church.

It is a time of new life in the way we think of church. What we had always thought of church is really not so. Church is the body of believers, each fulfilling an equal function in the body, with Christ as the head. It is not a building we attend once a week for a pre-planned religious service.

We have new life in our learning process, open to let the Spirit teach us and not settle for a specific doctrine or belief system based on what a particular denomination has told us. We had many things that bothered us and caused questions that just didn’t make sense, but we are finding new life knowing that God is within us and that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We don’t have to rely on a man or woman to teach us. We can listen and hear the leading of the Spirit for ourselves.

We have come to realize the new life we have in the New Covenant. No longer do we need to try to mix the old covenant law with new covenant grace. We now depend on Jesus, and Him alone, as our all in all. He lives within his followers and is the living, inerrant Word of God. We have the mind of Christ, and the Holy Spirit within us teaching and guiding us.

We’ve found new life in fellowship. We had such a hard time finding true fellowship within the four walls. We’d sit for an hour looking at the back of someone’s head, listening to a man or woman tell us what they thought God was saying. Fellowship normally doesn’t happen at a typical church service. We’ve found more fellowship going about our daily business, knowing that God is within us. He brings other brothers and sisters along that we wouldn’t find while sitting in a meeting. We each have a small group of fellow believers that we meet with regularly and have really come to know what fellowship is meant to be.

We know everyone isn’t going to agree with what we are finding to be good for us. A lot of people want the organized meetings. There is nothing wrong with that if that is what you want for now. But we have found new life being outside of organized religion and traditional church. For us, this is so much better and we’re finding some of the questions that were bothering us actually have been answered. Some things make so much more sense now. Of course, there are still many questions, but rather than beat ourselves up over trying to make sense of everything, we’ve accepted that God is in control. We’re not going to know everything or have the answers to everything. We each learn over our life-time, and as God reveals new truths to us.

It is also a time of new life in the way we accept others and let Christ live and love through us. We can love and accept people the way they are. We can be loving and kind and not condemning. As followers of Christ, we are all at different stages in our walk with God.  We aren’t on different levels, as we feel all of us have equally important functions in the body, with Christ as our head.

Actually, each day is a time of new life. Stop looking to man, and man-made institutions to be your link to God. The Father says that we are now one with Him. Let Christ live through you every day and listen for the Spirit to teach and guide you as you go about your daily routine.

 

This post is part of the March Synchroblog, ‘New Life’, which can be viewed here
http://synchroblog.wordpress.com/2014/03/26/link-list-march-2014-new-life/

K.W. Leslie – Sin Kills; God Brings New Life
Carol Kuniholm – New Life. Mystery Fruit.
Jeremy Myers – I Get Depressed On Facebook
Glenn Hager – A Personal Resurrection Story
Loveday Anyim – Spring Forth – Ideas That Speak New Life
Loveday Anyim – Inspired By Spring To Create A New Life
Sarah Quezada – Post Winter Delight
Edwin Aldrich – Finding New Life In Our New Home
Doreen A. Mannion – Each Day A New Decision: Choose Life
Kathy Escobar – new life through nonviolent communication
Anita Coleman New Life, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and Eternal Living
Sonja Andrews Persephone
Mallory Pickering New Life Masterpiece Theater Style
Liz Dyer New Life, Empowerment and Dropping Keys

 

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What Do You Mean, Jesus Wasn’t a Christian?

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , on January 16, 2014| 8 Comments »

Jesus wasn’t a Christian? How can you say such a thing?

Especially here in the USA, when we think of Jesus we think of Christianity. Actually Christianity is just another religion. Jesus didn’t come to start a religion. Men started calling those who followed Christ as Christians, but in our modern era, Christianity is thought of as a religion more than it is a lifestyle of following Jesus.

Jesus doesn’t belong to any particular religion. He loves and accepts people no matter what they believe. He came to show the love of the Father to the human race, not start a new religion for people to fall in line and follow.

If we mean Christian as being a follower of Christ, then there is nothing wrong with using this word to describe our fellowship with Him. If we use Christian as a sense of belonging to a particular church, following a particular doctrine and set of rules, then I would rather not have anything to do with that term.

Jesus is the Son of God, and He loves all people. He doesn’t see Muslims, Jews, Christians or any religion. He loves people. He sees people who need the love and acceptance of God. The only way people are going to come to true fellowship with God is through Christ…not Christianity.

It’s time we stop looking to the organized world of religion as our way of becoming acceptable and pleasing to God. We need to look to Christ and allow Him to live through us and let Him love all those we meet each day. Stop demanding that people come to follow your doctrine, your rules, your beliefs and accept people as they are. Show the love of Christ to them and let God work in them the way He sees fit.

We are never going to completely agree with each other on doctrine and religion. Only through Christ and the love He gives will we be able to love and accept others. Let us be known by the true sense of the meaning of Christian, being someone who is doing the works of Jesus, and letting Him reign as Lord of lords and King of kings.

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My Journey to Leaving Organized Religion

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , , on November 13, 2013| 71 Comments »

My history with organized religion began back when I was just a little boy. My parents were active members of their church and once I was born, they started taking me and I’ve been a part of the organized church basically since that time. I was saved in the church when I was 10 years old during Vacation Bible School. I was active in one way or another for years and years, so when I say I’ve grown to see church in a different way, you will know I am not someone on the outside knocking church.

I grew up in a Christian family and was one of the kids who never got in trouble, didn’t smoke, didn’t drink, didn’t cuss, I was always in church whenever the doors were open. I actually got to thinking I might be one of God’s favorites….can you believe it?

Over the past several years, I’ve had a groaning deep inside about modern-day church. I’ve been feeling that something just isn’t right. What we call church today just doesn’t seem like what God intended.

I began going to church out of habit because it was the thing Christians do to show they were different than the world. I felt that if I didn’t do certain things that were considered wrong, and if I did good things and attended church, I would be pleasing to God.

People seem to make so much out of going to church. I noticed that Christians, myself included, seemed more interested in finding out where others went to church. If they went to the same type of church as we did, we felt they were alright. We would make sure and invite friends or non-Christians to church rather than talk to them about what Christ did for us. We felt it was the place of the church to do all the evangelism and witnessing. We thought that if we got them into church, the pastor would take care of everything.

I also spent a lot of time, as do a lot of people, working around the church or doing ‘church’ activities. It seemed like the more I went to church, or the more things I did, I felt like a better Christian. This is a problem today. People get more involved in working for the church, or for the pastor, that they no longer are doing things out of love for Christ, but out of love for things about Christ. Many people feel the more things they do for the church, or the more often they attend services, the closer they are to God. They feel guilty if they miss a service or are asked to do something for the church and they say no.

I started realizing that going to church was not the answer. There was certainly more to sitting there letting someone else tell me what God was saying through His word. I became very dissatisfied with the church and I kept telling my wife that there is something wrong with the way things are being done. Something just isn’t right.

Over the years I’ve seen all the fighting and arguing among church goers. If you go to a different denomination than someone else, seems like you just can’t get along because of the differences in interpretation and understanding of the Bible. I would think about the verse ‘By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another’ (John 13:35 NASV) and wonder where is the love?

I see the mega-churches with all the glitz and glamour and wonder why all that money is going into a building, the pastor’s car, house and all the other expenses churches seem to require. I realize most churches give to other missions and other ministries, but it seems a very small percentage of the total giving actually go to ministries that help others.

All this has been weighing on me and I’ve been more and more uncomfortable sitting in church for an hour every week, looking at the back of the head of the person in front of me, being entertained and preached too. Then I’m told that this is good Christian fellowship, although I haven’t really talked to anyone during the entire service.

I have been struggling for a long time with my feelings and wondering what was going on with me. Was something wrong with my fellowship with God? Was I getting tired of church and Christianity after all this time? I can’t say there was any one event that made me feel this way, but it was a progression of events, thoughts, praying, reading, searching.

After all these years, I just couldn’t make any sense out of sitting and being entertained for an hour and then going home thinking I had fulfilled my Christian obligation. So much of the teaching in the church today is more or less telling us what we need to do and what we need to stay away from to make us ‘good’ Christians. While sitting in a service listening to this, it hit me that all this sounds a lot like the Law. I was feeling good about myself based on what I did or didn’t do, and how often I was in church. I got to thinking, didn’t Christ fulfill the Law? Wasn’t he the perfect sacrifice for us? Didn’t he put an end to the Old Covenant and begin a New Covenant of Grace? Why was the pastor still telling us we needed to follow the 10 Commandments and do things to earn God’s love? It just didn’t make any sense. Especially when reading verses such as Galatians 3: 23-26 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

For such a long time, I’ve wondered if the issue I was having about organized religion and modern-day church was a spiritual problem or not, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I had a legitimate complaint of how modern-day church was going.

The way I see it, God said that we, His people, are the temple of the Holy Spirit. To me that says that God lives in me, not in a building. He says we are all sheep and He is the Shepherd, not the person we call pastor that gets up each week and talks about what they think the Bible says.

Don’t get me wrong, a lot of good things have happened in church over the years, and a lot of sincere people who love God and want to please Him are a part of organized religion. I feel the organized church of today is over emphasized, making people think that everything happens in church. We have to wait until Sunday for God to show up and do something. What happened to the fact that we, His people are the Church and we have a relationship with God every day. We can have an impact on those we come in contact with each day by the Spirit of God loving them through us. Why do we feel we have to get people to wait until Sunday to come to a building for God to do something?

Christians will dress up and act differently, saying they are going to God’s house, but don’t realize that God’s house is within us. God lives within us every day of the week and we no longer have to go somewhere to meet Him.

I also wondered why so many events and teachings of the church still seemed to center around Old Covenant living. We are saved by grace and nothing we do or don’t do makes a difference in our salvation. We can’t make God more pleased with us by doing things and we can’t make him not love us for not doing anything.

After some time of wondering and praying, I finally started coming across various other people, through books and web sites, that were feeling the same way as myself. I would read something that really agreed with my spirit and think, wow, that is exactly the way I’ve been feeling.

I think for me three things really aggravated me with the church. One was how I saw the way people looked up to the pastor and the leaders of the church. It seemed like they were almost on a different level than the entire congregation. That didn’t fit in with the verse ‘What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. 1 Corinthians 14:26 NASV). Jesus is the head, we are the body. We should be letting the Spirit teach us and lead us, not another human being.

The second was the worship leader. I felt like he was telling me how to worship, when to raise my hands, when to do this and do that and basically trying to make me feel guilty if I didn’t respond. What happened to people responding out of genuine love for God and not because someone is trying to pump it up to make the worship team look good.

And the third is tithing. Tithing is an Old Covenant law and is no longer a requirement for living in Grace. I agree, we give out of love and according to how we feel God is leading us, but tithing as part of the law is done. The way I see it, the clergy needs to get paid, the mortgage has to be paid, the staff has to be paid, so they lead people on by saying tithing is still required and that just isn’t right.

My wife and I have stopped attending services for almost two years now. I have come to realize that what we call church is a good place for Christian people to get together socially, but it is not God’s house and it is not the Church. I know we need to continue to have fellowship with other believers, and pastors like to use the verse forsake not the assembling of yourselves together (Hebrews 10:25 NASV), but no where does the Bible say that has to be in a building on a certain day. Christians can fellowship anytime, anywhere. As the Bible says ‘for where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst’ (Matthew 18:20 NASV). I’ve heard of Christian groups meeting for Bible study in a bar as a witness to those who normally go there but who would not dream of walking into a church. Before we condemn this type of thing, we need to remember that Jesus, the Great Physician went to the sick. He didn’t wait for them to come to a building on a certain day. He went to the people who needed Him.

At times I still battle over leaving the church or to stay involved from time to time. I have so many friends that are part of the organized church and they just don’t understand my feelings. It’s almost as if I am out on my own when it comes to my friends and it makes me feel like it would be easier to keep my mouth shut and keep on attending services like normal. The problem with this feeling is, am I trying to please men or am I trying to follow the leading of the Spirit? I am fortunate to have my wife and a few good friends to meet with every other week who have the same feelings. I now know in my mind that I have not truly left church because I am a part of the Church, which is not a building we go to, but is the people of God who are saved by grace. I know that fellowship with other believers can take place anywhere and anytime. I am part of the Church every day no matter where I am.

If Jesus walked the earth today I’m not sure we would find him in church. He would be out meeting the people who most of the church crowd would not want to be associated. It was the religious leaders who were His biggest enemies in times past. I’m not sure it wouldn’t be the same today.

This post was a Guest Post at Gods Leader
You can view it at http://godsleader.com/my-journey-leaving-organized-religion/

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Simple Truths from Outside the Walls

Posted in christian living, Community, The church, tagged , , , , , , , on August 23, 2013| 2 Comments »

I’ve read many articles about church abuse. Seems many Christians have been through bad times in the organized church and they have become angry and frustrated with the system. Certainly understandable.

For me, I can’t say I went through anything I would call abuse in the system. I grew up in church and was very active over the years. I truly felt I was doing what was pleasing to God and I earnestly was trying to learn and do what He would want me to do.

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So when I hear all the abuse stories and all the troubling times in organized religion, I don’t always understand. I know there are many people in the modern, organized church that truly love God and are trying to please him. I also realize there are many people who were unduly abused in various ways during their church life, and that is very sad.

For me, after several years of being unsatisfied with the system and feeling there certainly had to be more to it than what I had been part of, I dropped out of traditional church. Obviously this has to be something you feel is right for you, and I don’t think it is a good thing to tell people they should do the same. This is a choice that each believer has to make for themselves. I came to this conclusion after many years of seeing things, questioning things, reading things and just being completely frustrated with the system of organized religion.

I have no regrets in leaving, although I have no regrets for being a part of it for so many years either. I did learn a lot and made a lot of good friends. Of course because of the years involved, there are many beliefs and ideas I need to detox from now.

For now, feeling the system is wrong, I have decided to walk with God outside the walls of the organized church. Not that anyone is intentionally trying to do what is wrong but the whole modern-day organized church is off base. Granted, the system is the only thing we know. It’s been this way for years and we grew up with it and thought it was the way it should be.

We have it engrained in us that to assemble ourselves together is to go to church on Sunday morning and sit through a scheduled program. No where does scripture tell us that assembling together has to be done in a particular way, at a special time or in a set place.

We are told that the pastor is the spiritual head and he is who we learn from and come under authority and guidance. Of course God tells us that Jesus is the head of the church, which is his body, and the Holy Spirit is our teacher and we need no one to teach us other than him.

We are taught that we are saved by grace, but we need to live by the law to be pleasing to God. Reading through Paul’s teachings, it is easy to see that we live by grace, and trying to live under law is a curse (Galatians 3:10-13). Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant and the Law for us because we couldn’t. Jesus did the work, Jesus died and ended the Old Covenant. Upon his resurrection, the New Covenant began and we now live by grace. The New Covenant commands are to love God with all our heart and love others.

The Law was a tutor to show us that we were completely incapable of keeping the law and living a perfect life. Only Jesus was able to live a perfect life. For us Christians, a tutor is no longer needed because we have come to Christ and depend on his work and grace.

We are taught that the Bible is the true, living, inerrant word of God. John 1:1 tells us that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. To me that says that Jesus is the living Word. The Bible is the inspired words of God, but we are not to look to the Bible as the all-powerful, inerrant source of what God has to say. We should look to Jesus who is our all in all, our very life.

We are taught to tithe, although that is not taught under the New Covenant. Giving as we see a need and as we feel lead is now done out of love, not tithing to the church as a requirement. I personally feel the church today is more of a big business than it is a religious organization. Tithing is pushed because the organization needs to have the bills and the salaries paid.

We are told we are poor sinners saved by grace and that we are weak, unrighteous worms who are unworthy of God’s love. Now apart from God, we are nothing. We can’t live a perfect life and we were not worthy to be in God’s presence. BUT, because of Christ and the work he has done, we were given the gift of righteousness. Apart from Christ, yes, we were poor sinners, but through Christ the sin nature was crucified and we were raised up with him as new creatures. We are now the house of God, and we are holy and righteous in his sight because of Christ.

People want to put themselves under the authority of a pastor or the elders of the church, but God says we are all kings and priests and Jesus is the head. We all have something to say when we come together to build one another up. There are no levels of authority among believers. We are all equal parts of his body and have equal parts to play in encouraging and building one another up.

I think an important fact for us to remember today is that no matter if you are ‘in church’ or outside the walls, we should be looking to each other in love and not fight and argue amongst ourselves. Whether you are going to church, you are going for the Lord, or if you don’t go to church, you are doing so for the Lord. Accept each other as brothers and sisters in Christ, pray for one another, encourage one another, and stop looking down on people who see things differently than you.

Even those outside of Christianity need our love, not our condemnation. Jesus loved those who the ‘religious leaders’ of his day didn’t want to have association. We want our Christian church, Christian schools, Christian dating sites, Christian this, Christian that, whatever we can do to be separate and apart from the non-Christians, yet we were told to go into all the world. That certainly doesn’t mean we are to act like the world, but we do need to love all those that are around us.

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I truly feel that being a person in Christ is a daily lifestyle. Being the church is a 24/7 way of life, not a Sunday only thing. God said that He is building His church and that He no longer lives in buildings made with hands. We are the church, we are God’s house. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We are the body of Christ. We function together as equal parts of the body under the headship of Jesus. We may be the only Jesus a lot of people will ever know.

We need to adjust our way of thinking and realize that church and Christianity are not a religion. It is a lifestyle we live day by day. Jesus is our life, it should be no longer us trying and doing, but resting in what Christ has done for us. We are in Christ and it is him living in us day by day that makes the difference.

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