( Authors Arranged Alphabetically )

Steve Austin

Why Scripture Compels Me to Affirm Gay Christians

Like Jesus, we are to love others not because of who they are, but because of who we are–all and equally the beloved of God. Once you allow and accept God’s utterly free and gratuitous love for yourself, you will almost naturally become a conduit of the same for others. -Richard Rohr

I went to ministry school with a girl who had been “delivered” from homosexuality. She still wore athletic shorts and a pixie cut, but apparently her gayness had been healed and she could suddenly love Jesus (and more importantly, be loved by Him) like the rest of us.

After graduation, my friend married a guy from our program who became a youth pastor. She was determined to act just like any other heterosexual spouse of a youth pastor, but she was secretly miserable as hell.

I’ve had heartbreaking conversations with friends walking through similar circumstances. Through their tears, each confessed that trying to “act straight” is like living in a prison of secrecy and fear. These aren’t kids. They are adults who are scared to death of being disowned by their families and ostracized by their churches and communities. And I can’t help but ask, “For what?”

It’s been several years since my friend’s marriage to the youth pastor dissolved, but our friendship has remained. She has slept on our couch and eaten at our table. We are her regular stopping point any time she travels from the Midwest to Florida’s coast. I’ve seen my friend’s heartache in walking through her painful situation.

I’ve also been privileged to see the redemption.

She has a new relationship with a beautiful woman, where both are cherished and respected. They are friends and equals, and neither needs to hide behind the unrealistic expectations of any person or institution. I love seeing the way my friend supports her partner and their children. She loves her as Christ loves the Church. I have never seen my friend more happy and whole than she is now.

For the longest time, I wrestled with whether I should support the gay community in the same way that I struggled with whether late-term abortion should be legal or capital punishment should be banned. Now I wonder, what was I thinking? How on earth did I justify lumping love and death into the same categories?

By arguing who’s right or wrong, I think we miss the point entirely. In our quest for Scriptures that support our personal holy wars, people are dying. According to the Trevor Project:

“Each episode of LGBT victimization, such as physical or verbal harassment or abuse, increases the likelihood of self-harming behavior by 2.5 times on average. And LGB youth who come from highly rejecting families are 8.4 times as likely to have attempted suicide as LGB peers who reported no or low levels of family rejection.”

If people believe the lie that their lives don’t matter – if they can’t find love or acceptance – it kills their soul, and sometimes their bodies. People don’t want to continue living in a world (read: a family or a church) where they aren’t known, accepted, and loved. I didn’t, and they don’t either.

For years, I have said my struggle is not knowing what I believe about homosexuality and Christianity. That’s a full-on lie. My struggle is not over what I believe. Rather, I have been scared to share my convictions honestly. I have feared being kicked out of fellowship in the Bible Belt if I defended gay people.

Like many of my LGBTQ friends, I have been afraid to come out and say I believe all people were created by a God who loves us all the same, and perpetuating hate and fear through destructive theology is not only hurtful, but sinful and just plain wrong.

I believe God is displeased with those who only offer love to people who look and act like them. To those who have been ostracized by these “loving preachers,” that kind of love feels an awful lot like like hatred.

Jesus commanded us to love and love doesn’t come with a list of prerequisites. Grace doesn’t have criteria that must be met in order to be offered. It is more important that I love my neighbors than expect them to pass a litmus test on holiness or conservative Christian living.

‘I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me.’

‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’ Matthew 25:34-40 MSG

Conservative Christians vehemently defend their views to justify hatred and fear of an entire people group. But if the church is to be the Bride of Christ, I’m afraid this shade of judgment is very unattractive on Her.

These days, I am learning to do better. I’m saying in no uncertain terms that I believe it is wrong for any group of people to be demonized by the Church. I will not stay quiet any longer.

Until now, I’ve been a coward. I was more concerned with my own acceptance and belonging in the local church than with offering love and acceptance to all of God’s people. I was wrong to hold back. I rejoiced in secret when SCOTUS ruled in favor of homosexual marriages, the same way that many whites in my hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, secretly celebrated school desegregation in the 1960’s. Those who spoke up were called liberals then, too.

When we’re talking about people who’ve had hatred and isolation thrown at them in the name of a God who offers nothing but extravagant love and grace and kindness to us all, I want to be a liberal. I want to be a liberal for the cause of Christ, because Jesus was certainly not conservative with his love.

We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. 1 John 4:19-21

Once we stop arguing our dogmas long enough to see the person behind the labels – a human being who was intricately formed in their mother’s womb by God, who has an identity and a purpose in Christ, just as I do – all the cultural “norms” and political/theological debates don’t matter.

In James, the author issues a clear call for decency:

Don’t bad-mouth each other, friends…You’re supposed to be honoring the Message, not writing graffiti all over it. God is in charge of deciding human destiny. Who do you think you are to meddle in the destiny of others?

Any church-goer who uses the phrase, “abomination” or has the audacity to ask someone if they are a “practicing” homosexual has obviously lost touch with what it means to exhibit Christian charity and basic human decency.

I’m done referring to my LGBTQ brothers and sisters as “those who struggle with same-sex attraction,” as it implies homosexuality is something to be cured, stopped, or fixed. Who am I to meddle in the destiny of another? Aren’t they, too, created in the image of God?

I also can’t help but wonder who is actually following the example of Christ in the gay/Christian debate. One major point of Liz Edman’s book, Queer Virtue, is this: If we compare the incredible faith of LGBT people who desperately want into the church – people who ache to worship God, to contribute to Christian community, to invite others in – versus those who use their power and status to make sure faithful LBGTQ people remain outside of Christian fellowship, which group is doing the will of our Lord?

And can I ask you a question? When you think about encounters you’ve had with people who are preaching or protesting against gay people, have you ever seen any of the fruit of the spirit demonstrated there?

I’m not saying everyone who preaches or protests against LGBTQ people are as hateful as Westboro Baptist. Maybe you’re one of the enormous silent majority who continues to pass the hurting man on the side of the road, without as much as a glance in his direction. How often have you seen LGBTQ people who are desperate for someone to notice their pain and invite them in? But maybe, like I once did, in an effort to not ruffle any feathers or have yourself kicked out of fellowship, too, you opt for silence.

My friend, your indifference and your silence is screaming at those hurting people who are desperate to simply touch the hem of Jesus’ garment. As you stand silent, your unwillingness to carry them to Jesus is as much a roadblock as the man standing on the street corner, holding a GOD HATES FAGS sign.

Setting the Record Straight about Gay Christians

I went to ministry school with a girl who had been “delivered” from homosexuality. She went on to marry a guy from our program who became a youth pastor and she was determined to act just like any other heterosexual spouse of a youth pastor would, but she was secretly miserable as hell. It’s been several years since her first marriage was dissolved, but our friendship has remained.

My friend has slept on our couch and eaten at our table more than once. We are her regular stopping point any time she travels from the Midwest to the Florida coast. In her new relationship with her beautiful partner, my friend is cherished and respected. They are friends and equals, neither one forced to hide behind the unrealistic expectations of any person or institution. I love seeing the way she supports this woman and their children, loving her partner as Christ loves the Church. I have never seen my friend more happy and whole than she is now.

For years, I have said my struggle is not knowing what I believe about homosexuality and Christianity. But that’s a lie. My struggle has been more about my own fear of being kicked out of fellowship in the Bible Belt for being willing to defend gay people.

I have been afraid to come out and say I believe all people were created by a God who loves us all the same. My struggle has been admitting that what you do behind closed doors in the privacy of your own bedroom with someone you love deeply and are committed to is none of my business.

I have been a coward. I was more concerned with my own acceptance and belonging in the local church than with saying yes I do love and accept and even affirm the gay community. I secretly rejoiced when SCOTUS ruled in favor of homosexual marriages last year in the same way that many whites in my hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, secretly celebrated school desegregation in the 1960’s. They were called liberals then, too.

I believe it is wrong for any group of people to be demonized by the Church and I will not stand by quietly anymore. When it comes to the cause of those who’ve had hatred spewed in their faces in the name of a God who offers love and grace and kindness extravagantly, I want to be a liberal. I want to be a liberal for the cause of Christ, because Jesus was certainly not conservative with his love.

I’m done talking about those who struggle with being gay, as it implies homosexuality is something to be cured, stopped or fixed. And it’s time to stop calling Christians who happen to be homosexual “Gay Christians.” Do you refer to your overweight pastor as a Fat Christian? Maybe we should start calling people Judgmental Christians or Closed-Minded Christians, just so we’re clear on where everyone stands. Putting a classification on a group of people based on our own prejudice sounds nothing like the Jesus I read about in the Bible. Labels belong on products, not people.

For the longest time, I wrestled with whether I should support the gay community in the same way that I struggled with whether abortion should be legal or capital punishment should be banned. But seriously, how on earth can I justify lumping gays in this same bunch?

Some say being gay is sin. Some say it isn’t. I just don’t care any more. You aren’t going to see me argue this point with Scripture because the world is sick of theologians. I think most Christians are sick of them too. Can’t I still show the love of Christ to my fellow man, without needing to back up my motivation with cherry-picked Scripture?

It’s new for me to be this bold because I fear putting my own family at risk. How sad is that? The truth is, no war has ever been won by moderates who sit safely on the fence, pretending they can just smile and agree to disagree. I’m not waiting any longer to find out who’s right or wrong. Love doesn’t come with a list of prerequisites. Grace doesn’t have criteria that must be met in order to be offered. It is more important that I love my neighbor than expect them to pass a litmus test.

When my friend and her partner sit on my couch, or have dinner at my table, the gay debate is no longer an issue. They are only people, and there is no doubt in my mind how to respond to the people I love.

Terry Austin

Jesus, not the Bible, is ‘the Word of God’

Like many Christians, I strive to read the Bible every day. However, I admit frequent failures and that I’m not as diligent as in times past.

I remember the first time I set out to read the entire book from Genesis to Revelation. I was working the graveyard shift as a police dispatcher, and there usually was a lot of down time after 3:00 in the morning. I carried my Bible with me and read during those stretches and finished in a few months. When I was a pastor, I tried to read through the entire Bible every year, not always successfully.

I have given the Bible a lot of influence in my life, but not nearly as much as some. I don’t worship the Bible. Many Christians, or should I say “most” Christians, have the opinion that the Bible is the “Word of God.” Let me say up front; the Bible is not the Word of God.

In the familiar opening words of the Gospel of John, the identification of Jesus as the Word of God is clearly laid out. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” There is no way those words apply to a book. Later, John adds, “and the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Then he describes how John, the evangelist baptizing people in the wilderness, made it clear that Jesus is the Word of God.

When you read the Bible with this perspective, you will find that it makes much more sense. Every time you come across the phrase “Word of God” or “God’s Word,” substitute Jesus.

Hebrews 4:12 — For the word of God (Jesus) is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Psalm 119:105 — Your word (Jesus) is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

Luke 11:28 — He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God (Jesus) and obey it.”

Psalm 33:4 — For the word of the Lord (Jesus) is right and true; he is faithful in all he does.

James 1:21 — Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word (Jesus) planted in you, which can save you.

That raises the question: If the Bible is not the Word of God, what is the Bible?

Let me begin by saying the Bible makes Christianity (and Judaism) different from all other major religions of the world. Buddhism and Hinduism do not have sacred texts that guide their belief and actions. Islam has the Koran, but it is significantly different from the Bible. It was written by one man over a short period of time, 20 years in the seventh century. Mormonism uses the Bible along with the sacred Book of Mormon written by one man in the 19th century (although he claims the book was written much earlier and given to him).

Judaism and Christianity are similar when it comes to sacred writings. In fact, Christianity incorporates the writings of Judaism into its Bible as the Old Testament, to go along with the New Testament. However, the composition of both the Old and New Testaments is similar. They are both collections of material composed over a long period of time, written by a plethora of authors.

I don’t think any of the biblical writers thought they were writing God’s words. Instead, they were writing what they knew, what they heard, what they experienced about God. The Bible is a collection of words about God, not a collection of God’s words to us.

We don’t know who wrote down the words of Scripture. Historically, names have been ascribed to various books and portions, but we know they are inaccurate. For example, many people claim Moses wrote the first five books of the Old Testament —Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. It is hard for that to be true since a description of Moses’ death is contained in those writings. A few books of the Bible claim to have been written by a specific individual, others were named after a likely individual, and others are simply unknown.

The Bible was written by humans who took the occasion to put down on paper (or parchment or whatever they used at the time) their experiences with God. The experiences were varied for many reasons. They happened at different times to people with different personalities and interests. Sometimes they are consistent with one another, but often they are in conflict.

The early chapters of Genesis contain two versions of the creation stories. At different times, God instructs people to destroy all the enemy, and other times God tells them not to. It seems God wanted Saul to be the king, except when God didn’t intend for the nation to have a king. The list of inconsistencies found throughout the Bible is long. You find them even in the New Testament. After being baptized, Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness being tempted by Satan, yet three days after his baptism, Jesus was at a wedding in Cana.

In order to keep the Bible from contradicting itself, scholars have used a lot of ink along with some creative reasoning to explain how these are not inconsistencies. They feel compelled to do this because to believe the Bible is God’s Word it must not contradict itself. God never would say one thing and then later say something else. Scholars have even arrived at the point of arguing that the Bible is without error in the “original documents,” which, of course, we don’t have and never will.

Whew, that was close. Now it’s OK if the Bible contradicts itself. We can blame the scribes who came along throughout history and made copies. Someone made a tiny mistake, and after being copied and recopied countless times, some mistakes became large. But that’s OK; God’s Word was perfect when given, humans messed it up.

Even if I accept that reasoning, how does that help me? If the Bible is God’s Word, but we no longer have large portions of that Word, it feels like we might be missing something important. I guess you could say that God made sure we preserved the important parts, but now you’re just guessing; there’s no way to know that.

There has to be a better way than trying to make the Bible into something it’s not. Rather than being God’s Word to humans, the Bible is human words about God. The Bible is a collection of writings produced over time by men (and probably not women, sadly). They recorded their experiences of God and what that taught them about God.

I’m not saying their writings are not different than any of the dozens of books I’ve written over the years. They are vastly different. Paul understood this when he wrote, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

The phrase “inspired by God” is one word in the Greek language and means “God-breathed.” It means that Scripture is “God’s breath.” As the author was putting pen to paper, God was breathing on the process. It doesn’t say God dictated or spoke; God breathed. I’m not sure what that means or how much it impacted the final words, but it does make them special. Unlike anything you and I have ever produced.

A further consideration is that God’s people have agreed that these documents are unique and deserve special consideration over the centuries. History records the arduous task of finding a consensus of which writings were God-breathed and which were not. No one, not even me, is considering that any of my writing is God-breathed.

I think I’ve gone far enough that I can now explain what I believe about the Bible. It is a collection of men’s (again, it’s a shame we have no women) experiences with God and what it meant to them. As they gathered these experiences and the teaching passed down to them from others, it all was lumped together with community legends and folklore and put together with the breath of God. In other words, Scripture is not God’s word; it is men’s words about God.

All this material, woven together by God over the centuries, was further edited by the usage of people until church leaders eventually got together, debated, voted and declared, “this is the Bible.”

By the way, it is still being edited. When was the last time you took a deep dive into the Song of Solomon? How often do you read the book of Jude?

The next time you start to do something because you think it’s what the Bible says, stop and ask yourself, “Is this consistent with what I know about Jesus?” In other words, if my life shows little resemblance to how Jesus lived, then I might be listening to the wrong word of God.

My Inability to Mind My Own Business

Does anyone really know what LinkedIn is all about? It’s kind of like Facebook with less stupidity as near as I can tell. It seems that members are people who are either really proud of their occupation or else looking for an occupation that could be proud of. I set up an account years ago and only occasionally click over to see what’s happening.

I frequently get notifications of congratulations for the anniversary of my job, but I don’t know what that’s all about. The last few jobs I’ve had I just kind of gradually made a change from one job to the next that I have no idea what the anniversary would be. I feel like a married couple celebrating a wedding anniversary even though they lived together for years prior to the wedding. What’s the point? Gateway_Church_114_Campus

The other day I clicked on the LinkedIn site and at the top of the Home Page articles was a video posted by a young man on the subject of stewardship. Because of my long history of work on that subject, I gave it a view. He spoke of a book he was writing based on the stewardship teaching of Jesus. While reading through the Gospels, he was marking every verse that applies to stewardship and the book will be called “Jesus on Money.” He has 1,000 verses highlighted, and the plan is to categorize them so he can present them us in a way that help us understand stewardship.

The young man is an Executive Pastor at a megachurch in our city. Nearest I can tell, stewardship education is a part of his assignment. The church has a deep history of stewardship. Years ago when I was responsible for teaching stewardship to the 5,000 Baptist churches in Texas, I met with this man’s predecessor. One of the surprises was that he had a larger staff than I had and he was responsible for one church.

I know a few things about stewardship. The first book I ever wrote was on the subject, and it sold more than 300,000 copies. I also wrote numerous other books and material over the years. For a short time, all of the stewardship resources developed by the Southern Baptist Convention had evidence of my influence. However, it’s no secret that my views on church stewardship have radically changed over the years and what I believe now is nothing like what I believed then. But I do know what I’m talking about.

Given my stewardship background and my inability to ignore an opportunity to speak up, I typed a comment about his video: “An interesting first chapter for your book would be on what Jesus might say about churches that spend millions of dollars on buildings and staff salaries rather than giving to the poor.”

Not surprising, he responded: “If a church is only self focused then I’d say it isn’t very healthy. Terry Austin, have you written anything on this subject? I’d be interested to hear your personal generosity story and the exciting things God is doing through you to serve the poor.”

Of course, I had to say something: “I’ve written a great deal of material on Christian stewardship and my stewardship theology has evolved significantly over the years. I developed a capital fund raising program that generated a quarter of a billion dollars for church buildings and another that focused on church budgets. However, much of that theology has changed for me. My two latest books on the subject are “Authentic Stewardship” and “Why I Quit Going to Church” can be found at Amazon. Don’t let the title throw you off as there is an important emphasis on Christian stewardship.”

Before he could respond, I added: “Something else to think about. I have no idea how much money you give to your church but try to figure out how much of it makes its way to the poor. Last week, I gave cash and several large bags of clothes for refugees from South America and made a cash contribution to a woman in our neighborhood needing money for surgery her insurance won’t cover. It wasn’t a large amount, but probably more will go to the poor than what makes its way through most churches. The typical church spends 50% of income on staff salaries and 25-30% on building costs. The rest is used for things like childcare, youth activities, curriculum, denominational expenses, etc. Some churches have a food pantry, but most of those are stocked by non-profit money, not church donations. If you’re serious about wanting to help the poor, the church is not the place to go.”

His response was to invite me to come to his church and see all the great stuff happening. Obviously, he was not understanding what I was trying to say. If I’m misunderstood, I always assume it’s my fault.

So, I tried to make it clearer: “I’ve been to Gateway and 100’s of other churches just like it around the country. I met with the guy who I assume was your predecessor years ago when I was doing church stewardship. I’m not looking for a church doing “healthy ministry, many people coming to Christ and giving generously…” I know tons of generous givers, there is no shortage there. My concern is what the church is doing with their generosity. The church approach is to teach people to be generous and then turn around and use their generosity on themselves. Church are not giving to the poor, they are spending it on their own comfort. How many lives could be impacted with the millions of dollars Gateway spends on buildings and salaries each year?”

At this point he got angry and accused me of attacking his church and wanting him to quit his job. For some reason, he later deleted this comment.

In reply I said: I think you’re jumping the shark here. I began the conversation to encourage you to take biblical stewardship seriously and hopefully learn something that took me 30 years to learn. You’re the one who brought up your church. I have no reason to attack your church nor do I care if you quit your job or not. Neither do I have any interest in closing down churches. I simply think there might be a way to be the church that doesn’t require massive amounts of money. In your video, you expressed interest in identifying all the biblical passages about stewardship in the Bible, a concept that was first done by Larry Burkett. I worked with Larry for many years and when he came to the end of his life, he also came to the point of believing the way churches do things with stewardship needs serious alteration. If you stick with God’s Word long enough, you’ll probably come to that same conclusion yourself someday. My intent was to plant a seed and give you a head start. I apologize if you are offended, however, I’m not sorry for challenging you to think outside your own box.”

He admitted that he might have overacted but ended his part of the conversation with an additional statement about the greatness of his church.

The irony of all of this is that his church recently built a $35 million building in addition to multiple sites where they broadcast their Sunday services around the city. I don’t know for sure but I’m confident the number of paid staff members is in the hundreds if not more.

What will this young Executive Pastor find in the words of Jesus that speak to this use of money given by God’s people?

Why I Quit Going to Church

During the past few years, Sharon and I have visited numerous churches. We were counting just the other day and realized we have been to at least two each of Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, Assembly of God, Catholic, and non-denominational, in addition to countless Baptist churches. However, for the last two years, more often than not, most weeks find us not attending any church.

It is correct to say that we have quit going to church.

To be honest, I never thought I would make such a statement. I have been in church from the beginning. Somewhere in the Bible, it says, “In the beginning God created church and Terry was there.”

My father was a pastor, so our family life was centered on church. As I grew up, unlike many “preacher’s kids,” I never rebelled and left the church. I stayed with it—through high school, college, and my earliest working days. When I returned to college a few years later, it was to prepare for the ministry. It was time for me to become the preacher.

After seminary, I almost quit church. No church was interested in me being their pastor, and I was discouraged. After a short time, I was discovered and put back to work and once again the church was the center of my world.

Not true any longer.

Although I quit going to church, my relationship with Jesus is as strong as ever. I still pray, read the Bible, study scripture, share my faith, and jump on opportunities for ministry as much as ever. My level of trust in God, dependence upon God, and recognition of God’s presence has not waned.

When this first started happening, I thought there was something wrong with me. Even though I did not feel guilty for staying home on Sunday, I thought I should—at least a little guilt. But I didn’t. I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong. I thought that at least I must be a rare person—an active church member who drops out and doesn’t feel guilt.

However, I came to realize that I am not rare. There are many of us, perhaps even millions of us. I have found a bunch who have traveled a similar path and ended up at the same location. These are people who love Jesus, who have been church leaders or active members and have quit the church.

The real question is why. Why did this happen? Why did I quit going to church?

I have given this much thought, and you will hear my answer. However, let me say a couple of things. First, you might feel like I am attacking you or something that is important to you. Let me assure you that is not my intention. As far as I’m concerned, you can continue attending church until Jesus returns and I will not try to change your mind.

Second, don’t feel sorry for me. If you want to judge me, that’s your business, but I don’t need or want your sympathy. I’m a big boy, and I made a conscious decision after much thought and prayer. I don’t need your approval or your condemnation.

Now, let me try and explain why I quit going to church.

I spent nearly 15 years, during the prime of my life, helping churches raise money. I wrote books and study material that was used by hundreds of thousands of people. I helped develop a capital fundraising program for buildings that has been utilized in thousands of churches. It is not an exaggeration to say that I have had a hand in raising more than a quarter of a billion dollars for churches.

You might think my ego is a little inflated, but it’s not. I was good at what I did. However, now I think I was mistaken. I began to rethink the subject of money several years ago and in 2010 I wrote a book titled, “Authentic Stewardship” to express the beginning of my change of thought. My journey continued, and in 2014 I wrote a blog post called, “The Dissolution of Christian Stewardship.” It was seen as an attack on Dave Ramsey (although it wasn’t), and people went nuts with thousands of readers daily for a long time, and then rediscovered and revived for some reason a year later.

In September of 2010, a friend and I started Bread Fellowship, a different kind of church built around the idea of keeping Christ in the center without a circumference. In other words, we would hold up Jesus as the central message and allow anyone to come and participate. I tried to capture this concept in a book I published in the summer of 2012. It is a great model that I still think has merit; however, it didn’t work for me at that time.

Another significant experience along the way was a sermon I preached at Truett Theological Seminary in 2011. I was asked to address the subject of stewardship, which I did, but with a twist. Since it was a gathering of seminary students, aspirants for the church pulpit, I challenged them to think about the necessity to take a preaching position even if there was no salary. In other words, to consider working for Jesus without being paid.

It took me a long time to come to that position. In fact, I had to get to the point where I was making a living without depending on the church before I could see the value in not expecting the church to be my provider. I then began to realize that the church is better off without “paying the preacher.” It sets everyone free to follow God’s leadership.

Perhaps a more thorough explanation will be helpful before moving on. A pastor lives in constant tension of pleasing enough of the right people to keep his job. Being a pastor is exactly like working for any business—you have a boss, and you must make the boss happy. This is even more complex because a pastor will probably have multiple bosses within the church. The problem for the pastor in that situation is that he is no longer serving Jesus. He is now serving the men and women who make up the local church (who may or may not be faithful servants of Jesus).

All of this is compounded by the fact that these same people who pay staff salaries are also the ones who must pay for the church building. Therefore, it is imperative to keep them happy, to make sure their needs are met, and that they bring in additional people for fresh sources of revenue.

I learned all of this while doing stewardship. If I were starting over today, I would not spend my most valuable years of ministry helping churches raise money. It has taken a long time, but I’m finally leaving all of that behind.

In fact, money is probably the reason I quit going to church. I don’t mean the cost of attending, nor was I offended by being asked to give an offering. If churches are going to operate and be funded the way they are then asking for an offering is appropriate.

Before I expound on my understanding about church, let me ask a question. If money were totally eliminated from the equation, what would your church look like? In other words, if your church had no money what would happen? Would the church cease to exist? Or, would they find a way to do things without money?

While you ponder that question, I will share my opinion of the church today.

I am convinced the church in America today has become distracted from its purpose and focused on numbers rather than being the Body of Christ in the world. This has resulted in an overabundance of buildings and a failed understanding of the clergy. This is evidenced by the fact that the majority of the church’s budget is consumed by the cost of construction and maintaining buildings, and paying staff salaries—as much as 80% of most instances.

Consequently, the church has created a self-perpetuating cycle that begins with the idea that a church must have a building. In order to afford the expense, enough people must join the local congregation and be encouraged to give money. In order to continually recruit new members additional staff members are necessary, who also cost money.

The consequences of this failure by the church are significant and include the following:

Providing more and more expensive amenities to attract and keep people.

Attempts to become full-service providers for people, offering everything folks need for entertainment, child care, youth activities, support groups, recreation, etc.

Developing “worship services” that resemble musical concerts, complete with lights, video, and even pyrotechnics.

Recruiting “worship leaders” who are essentially performers, and providing “worship services” that have little to do with New Testament worship.

Churches with more than half of the registered members who are disconnected from the church and have little or no interest in following Jesus.

Preachers who are unwilling or afraid to be prophetic because the church cannot afford to alienate significant members.

A vast majority of believers who are not in a position to utilize their spiritual gifts because either they are not assigned a position by the church or because they don’t have the gifts required for open positions at church.

Churches have made a man (i.e. Senior Pastor) the head of the church rather than Christ. Or, perhaps they operate with a Board of Directors (Elders or Deacons), but not Christ.

Pastors are under the burden of generating enough money to pay their salary and all the church financial obligations.

Little money is available for helping the poor and needy.

Your church probably doesn’t possess all these qualities, but even one of them is an indication that you are heading in the wrong direction. In addition, this list doesn’t even take into consideration the role politics has come to play in the life of the church—that’s an entirely separate issue for another day.

Imagine how many poor people could have been helped, hungry people fed, orphans united with eager parents, or healing brought to the sick if that quarter of a billion dollars I helped raise would have been invested in something other than buildings and payrolls. But, money isn’t the issue. The point is that the institutional church has ceased being the body of Christ in the world. Instead, it has become a self-perpetuating institution that sells physical comfort and spiritual assurance.

That last statement sounds rather harsh so trust me when I say it is not presented with a flippant attitude. Let me hasten to add that nothing I write here is intended to be a criticism of any individual. The finest Christians I know have given their life to serve the church. They are sincere and completely committed to serving Christ. However, like me, they have given their life to serving a church that is far off course.

If you are traveling and set a course that is simply one degree off target, it doesn’t sound like such a big deal. In fact, after 100 yards you will be only five feet off. Two quick steps and you are back where you belong. However, after traveling one mile, you will be more than 90 feet off, and if you are going from San Francisco to Los Angeles, you will be off by six miles. The longer the trip the further away from the target that one simple degree will take you. If you travel around the world, you will be more than 430 miles off target.

The church in the New Testament set off in the direction established by the Holy Spirit. However, at some point, it was distracted just a little bit (about one degree). Now, 2,000 years later, the church is so far away from where it intended to go that the destination cannot even be seen on the horizon.

Church history tells us that there have been times when the deviation has been greater than one degree and other times when the church moved closer to the correct course. For example, Constantine and his attempts to make Christianity the official religion of the Roman world led us on a path that eventually went way off line. The Reformation and various spiritual awakenings have brought us back closer to the correct way. However, the end result is that the church in America today is nowhere near where it should be.

The result is an institution that is so encumbered with maintaining buildings, financially supporting staff, and striving to create a Christian world that it no longer has the will, energy, or desire to serve Jesus.

In order to correct this situation, I want to suggest a refocus on two essential doctrines of the Christian faith that can get us back on track. The first is the concept that the followers of Jesus make up the Body of Christ—the church. In other words, the church is not a place or a building—it is people. We are Christ’s body in the world. The church is wherever we happen to be.

When two or more of us get together, then we have a gathering of the church. Since I have been in church my entire life, I have a good idea about what happens when the church gathers. There is singing, preaching, praying, announcing, plus entertaining, marketing and promotion, and a few other incidental activities. However, when I read scripture, I discover a different list of activities.

The second essential doctrine is the priesthood of all believers. Protestants have wrapped themselves in pride that they did away with the priesthood because of their belief that all of us are priests before God. However, they have substituted pastors for priests. The pastor today is viewed as a necessity in order to have a church, and many of them operate as if they have special access to God.

The American church has named the pastor as the CEO of the local church. It is the pastor who casts the vision, develops the plans, secures the resources, and sets the course for action. It is the pastor who explains God’s word, leads the prayers, and finds the answers to people’s problems.

In most churches, if you want to do something you are told to “ask the pastor” (or one of his staff representatives). If you have a message to share with the congregation the pastor will want to know about it beforehand (at least I would have when I was the pastor). If you want to follow Christ in baptism, you need to talk to the pastor. If you want to renew your commitment of faith, then you go to the pastor.

In making the pastor the head of the church we have placed him/her in an impossible situation—expecting them to do what only Christ can (and should) do. If we remove the pastor from the position of intermediary between Christ and the church then everyone is allowed to function in direct relationship with Him. That is what the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers is about.

Now, let me return to my question—what would happen to the church if we remove money from the equation? In other words, the church does not have money for buildings, staff, or programs.

The first and most obvious thing is that Christians would gather in much smaller groups because the gathering would have to take place in homes, parks, and other public places. Imagine the dramatic change in the church if we eliminate the Sunday morning show along with the children’s and young people’s entertainment.

The next thing we would notice is that regular people would have to step up and do the work of the church since there is no longer a paid staff. The truth is that the ordinary people are to be doing the work of the church anyway. God has gifted each of us for service and ministry. He never expected that a pastor would be in charge of the church’s work.

That raises another important point—the work of the church should take place out in the world, not within the walls of a church building. We gather to be encouraged and strengthened, and then we scatter to be the body of Christ in the world. We take the church with us because we are the church.

Imagine all of that—a small group of believers gathering in a home for the purpose of sharing and encouraging one another in the faith. By the way, I’m not making that up. Listen to these words:

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:23-25)

This is not an admonition to gather in a large auditorium on Sunday morning as many want to suggest. Rather it is a call not to try to live the Christian life in isolation—we do not have a Lone Ranger faith. We cannot make it on our own; we need one another. We are to gather with other believers to stimulate and encourage one another.

But it is not an admonition to gather and watch others and be entertained. When the church gathers there is to be sharing (including a meal, prayer needs/concerns, possessions with those in need—not an offering for the church, and the Lord’s Supper). There is also to be encouraging one another (includes teaching, prayer, and spoken words). Finally, there should be praise, which includes singing and testimonies.

I have many believers in my life who share and encourage. Sharon and I strive to gather with others who desire to follow the leadership of Christ and help us be better representatives of Christ in the world. This is not an attempt to start a new church. It is simply a gathering of a minuscule portion of God’s church.

When I say that I have quit going to church, what I really mean is that I have stopped going to what most people call the church. The truth is that I cannot quit because I am the church. I am the body of Christ in a unique corner of the world—the one I occupy. As a follower of Christ, you are also the church. When we get together, then we can have church, even if it’s not in a building with a church sign in the yard

Bartender of Grace

The Genuine Article
Confessions of a recovering pharisee

There’s a constant conversation going on in church circles here in the Bible-belt regarding what it means to be a “real” Christian. Some say the tell-tale signs of genuine faith are church attendance, tithing, and a life of ministry in the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit. Others say it’s more about what you don’t do…don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t sleep around, don’t dance, don’t play cards, don’t cuss, etc…but what does Jesus say?

“Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.” -Jesus (John 13:35 The Message)

It’s a strange reality that some of the most spiritually mature people I know don’t attend church services all that much, don’t believe in tithing, and have never seen a miracle take place. It’s not that they are opposed to such things, but they have found what they believe to be a more authentic expression of faith outside of institutional Christianity. Many of them gather with friends in homes, coffeehouses, and parks and find that God’s presence is just as much there as it would be in the most ornate cathedral. They share what material possessions they have when they hear about a need, and find God’s blessing in that as much as if they had written a check to the church down the street. They sit with friends as they endure the hardships of life-personal loss, poverty, and chemotherapy treatments. They don’t just pray for people in need, they actually bear the burdens of those around them. All the while, many of these spiritual giants are addicted, sick, depressed, divorced, lonely, or in some other way “unclean” by the standards of many.

It’s possible for me to attend church gatherings every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night, give 10% (or more) to the church, and cast demons out of everyone I know, but if it’s not motivated by a heart full of God’s kind of love, it’s worthless.

Man’s kind of love is capable of plenty of good things, but God’s kind of love, poured through His people to the world is capable for far greater things. And it’s impossible to fake, because when we operate out of self (rather than His Spirit) eventually our motives will betray us. We can pretend to have pure motivations in what we say and do, but eventually keeping up appearances will become too much for us and we falter. The genuine article (Jesus living in His people by His Spirit) will stand the test of time.

Not that everyone who is legitimately following Jesus will live out His love all day, every day; I certainly don’t. Often my hypocrisy is most obvious to those I should be loving most: my wife, my kids, my family, and church family. Sometimes it seems like no matter how good my intentions are, something happens to distract me from what the Spirit is moving in me to do and set my eyes back on what my own grumpy flesh wants. That’s when I get off track and need to refocus on “Jesus, the author and finisher of (my) faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising its’ shame”. He is our calibration point. He is our balance, our center. He is the genuine article that no one can counterfeit. He’s the difference between religion and life.

Jose Bosque

The Missing Link Go and Make Disciples

Go and Make Disciples! This is the command given to His disciples by the Lord Jesus Christ after His ascension. The difference between what the Lord commanded and what the “religious system” does today is like the difference between the words authentic and invented. So today, we try to make good church members and in reality, few ever become disciples. Let’s look at a few questions together to see what it means to “go and make disciples.”

Why are we here on planet earth?

Why didn’t the Lord take us to heaven as soon as we believed? Why did the Lord pray to the Father in John 17 these words?

John 17:15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.

Is there a heavenly purpose for our continued struggle and suffering in this world? Are we on display as was His Son when He walked the earth in the first century? With so many Christian groups, churches, and denominations all claiming to have the truth in the 21st century, is there a way to tell who really is the Church the Lord is building? Society is tired of what we say and what we do inside our buildings on Sunday. The world is waiting to experience a living example of Christ. They want to see a people whose life reflects the love of the Father and the compassion of His Son for a world in crisis.

There is only one test of authenticity.

John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

What should be the focus of the Church of the Lord Jesus?

Is it to evangelize the lost or is it to make disciples of Christ? Why are 90% of the Sunday sermons that revolve around saving the lost, preached to the saved? Our challenge is to go and make disciples. What is a disciple?  A disciple is someone who loves like Christ loves. Disciples are those who understands that their lives have been bought with a price and they now live to represent His love to each other first, and then to a dying world.

Christianity is not a weekly service and a disciple is not a “church attender” or a “church member.”

When did we go wrong?

Few Christians can answer this question. Jesus has always been the Head of His Church. However, in the year 313 the Roman Emperor Constantine began to build buildings and assign “clergy” to rule over the “laity” like other religions of his day. So, the Church became a religious system–in essence a business– needing to perpetuate itself. Some believers rejected the process of institutionalization, but most went along to keep or upgrade their economic standing. Once priests and pastors were placed as mediators between God and His people, things began to change.

The next big hit came in the Reformation during the 16th century. The printing press was invented, Bibles were printed, and the common man began to learn how to read. Illiteracy in Germany at the time of Luther was close to 97%. Calvin used cartoon storybooks and coloring books in France because so few of the common people could read. The Bible was available in the common language is true, but only the elite could read it. As some leaders began to teach the truth to believers, the religious system took action to better control the people. Seminaries were created to control what was taught and who was officially authorized to teach and lead the people. What was supposed to bring reformation was actually used to tighten the noose around the people of God. Many who refused to follow the “official church” were slaughtered and murdered in the name of Christ. The Body of Christ has yet to fully recover from these two worldwide events in the life of the Church.  Amen to that!

How did our priorities change?

Once a religious corporation in need of finances replaced freedom and love for one another, the monster that is now called the church was created. Buildings for God and salaries for God’s clergy now had to be paid. Success was then defined by the size of buildings, budgets, and numbers in the congregation. Being a member of the Body of Christ in the One Church and Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ was replaced with allegiance to a local church. This also created the idea of local church memberships and little kingdoms with their own little kings called pastors and priests. To maintain control over the people sacraments became a job description and these could only be done by an official representative of the Church–salvation, baptism, Eucharist (or Lords Supper), marriages, and funerals, to name a few.

When money is the bottom line, it affects the focus of everything that is done. Oh yes, we still try to say the right things, but an evil darkness controls everything under the pretty buildings, the fancy suits and robes, the paid professional musicians, state of the art lighting and sound systems, and the Sunday morning “God bless you’s.” As they say in Hollywood: ‘’ The show must go on” at the expense for the care of the people of God. Some of you may say: “My church and leader are not like that at all,” but the next question may help your understanding because you don’t know what you don’t know.

How do these human traditions continue to perpetuate themselves?

The “official church” or religious system began to change the definitions of biblical words to perpetuate what and how they did what they did. The religious systems of the 16th century oversaw the translation of the Bible. People were also told they were not qualified to read and understand the Bible. Many were told by the ruling authorities that reading the Bible would make them crazy. To control those that did read, they created commentaries and notes were placed alongside the biblical text. Of course, these were written by the clergy class so that it supported what they were doing. With man putting confidence in the interpretations instead of listening to the Holy Spirit, control was inevitable.

Another problem that perpetuates the religious systems of men, is that what most Christians see and what they now do in the name of Christ, is all they have ever seen. Like a bird born in a cage that never gets to fly, they remain bound by what they have never experienced thanks to the traditions of men.

Many are told that to question a leader is to be disrespectful to authority. We are told these are the “experts” because they have the title and the seminary degrees. Generation after generation follow like lambs to the slaughter a religious system that doesn’t work to produce loving disciples.

The only thing the religious system produces well is ignorant, self–centered, and self-righteous clones that have not one ounce of love for one another. The religious system breeds these people and the world rejects Christ because of their example. Like the movie, The Matrix, they think they are free but they live controlled by their passions and lust. Once a week they put on “their Sunday clothes” to impress a God who exists only to respond like 911 when they have a problem.

What is the greatest weakness today of the “Church”

Go and make Disciples

Thanks to the invention of the printing press in the 15th century and now the internet, the information concerning the life in the Lord Jesus Christ is known by most of the world. Bible verses are quoted and explained daily on all forms of social media and yet we have not filled the world with the Gospel. Is it possible that the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is something that is lived openly more than something we share verbally?

Today many are walking away from the institutional church or religious system. More are leaving than are being converted. Most of the large mega churches are made up of transfers from smaller congregations that are closing at an alarming rate. According to the Hartford Institute of Religion Research, more than 40% of Americans “say” they go to church weekly. As it turns out, however, less than 20% are actually in church. In other words, more than 80% of Americans are finding more fulfilling things to do on weekends.

Furthermore, somewhere between 4,000 and 7,000 churches close their doors every year. Southern Baptist researcher, Thom Rainer, in a recent article entitled, Thirteen Issues for Churches in 2013, puts the estimate higher. He says between 8,000 and 10,000 churches will likely close this year.

Between the years 2010 and 2012, more than half of all churches in America added not one new member. Each year, nearly 3 million more previous churchgoers enter the ranks of the “religiously unaffiliated.” We are now in 2017 and these numbers have probably doubled.

Those that leave say they still believe and love God, they just can’t put up with the church as it is today. Is it possible that what the religious system is doing and offering is something less that the total surrender and 24/7 lifestyle that is modeled in scripture by His disciples?

We bring them to a system instead of to a Savior.

We provide an earthly mediator between God and Man (clergy class).

We promote our differences from other Christians instead of our unity in the Lord’s Church.

We invite them to find the Lords presence in a building instead of in a daily relationship.

We teach them to memorize the Bible instead of how to hear the Word (rhema) daily.

We offer them to “go to Heaven when they die,” not how to live Heaven on Earth now.

We train them to worship the Lord weekly in song instead of daily with their life.

Our meetings places are designed for us (to hear the clergy) and creates spectators.

We invent the word “missionary” to replace the responsibility to go and make disciples.

The majority of the church comes together to get instead of to give of themselves.

The whole Body of Christ is not welcomed/permitted/allowed to exercise their gifts.

Gifts are relegated to assisting in the performance of the Sunday morning service.

A love for the Body of Christ has been downgraded to only those I like in (my) Church.

Doing social good must be programmed and approved by the controlling clergy class.

Outside speakers will not share their gifts with the Body unless they are paid upfront.

Like a club, few real relationships exist outside the weekly service and loneliness abounds.

On average, over 80% of income is spent on buildings and salaries instead of the needy.

We make salvation contingent on weekly attendance and participation in rituals instead of explaining the completed work on the cross and our righteousness in Him.

I could go on and on, but I think you get the general idea and can see clearly how different that is from what we read in the book of Acts;

Acts 2:44-47 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. 46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

Acts 4:32 Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.

So, to answer the question of what is the greatest weakness of the “Church,” is that it has little or no resemblance to the Church as described in the book of Acts. Go and make disciples has been replaced with come and get your weekly fix.

In the 21st Century how do we remain true to the Lord’s command?

Do we continue with our evangelism programs and “church growth “strategies, or do we return to modeling the love of Christ to one another? Sermons about Christ cannot change lives better than one follower of Christ who lives what he believes on a daily basis. Amen to that.

Do we continue to train our seminarians how to coax and persuade visitors to raise their hands, walk down an aisle, and say a prayer to receive Christ? Or do we teach the Body of Christ to model His life and His love at work, in the schools and in the marketplace to the point that unbelievers want to ask us “What must I do to be saved?”

Is the church a building or is the church a people? If the Lord is the one who adds to His Body, why would He add to a people who do not manifest His love? Go and make disciples in our world needs a transformation. The Lord said that He is building His Church. We can be assured that transformation is coming!

What does the future hold for Body of Christ?

Personal Shaking– The Lord has been shaking and will continue to shake until we unearth the original foundation of what it means to be a follower of Christ.

Increased Persecution- Even in America, the pendulum is already swinging against the Church and there is more persecution coming. This persecution will come from many fronts and will usher in a sanctifying separation that will leave together only those who have been truly born from above.

Global Economic Crisis- At present, money is the only thing holding up the religious system and it is behind everything that is wrong with the church. Be warned and be prepared for an economic crisis that will do away with the weekly performances inside the four walls. The love of the Father (zeal of the Lord) for His children will cause Him to act. This economic crisis will also weed out every hireling which seeks to profit from the Lord and His people. The magnitude of this crisis will reach out to the ends of the earth.

A Church Spotless and Without Wrinkle– Scripture says that His Body will make herself ready. The Lord has never left His people without a voice to show them the way. Those that have an ear to hear will hear and follow those living examples Christ has called to walk with Him. The spots will be washed out (agitated) and the wrinkles will be ironed out in the heat (fire). The Bridegroom deserves nothing less than a beautiful radiant Bride shining like the stars in the sky.

In conclusion

Are you a living disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you worship Him with your life daily or only with your singing? Go and make disciples is not a suggestion. That command wasn’t given to a paid clergy class. It was given to all those who claim to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you making disciples? As you go daily, I challenge you to: go and make disciples.

Why Seek the Presence of the Lord?

Why do we seek the presence of the Lord today? The current modern church landscape has many things wrong with it. We all know we are failing the culture and losing this generation but we prefer to be in denial and celebrate are supposed victories inside our four walls. If you speak up, you are labeled an extremist or a church hater. Nothing could be farther from the truth. We love the Body of Christ and have dedicated our lives to serve Him by faith for almost 30 years.

It is for this reason we seek to build up His Body, the One Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that before that we must remove the hindrances that prevent us from building upon the foundation Cornerstone.  This is not about preferences or theological differences. Many believers and leaders today are hurt, disappointed and discouraged because of the religious system and its man-made rules. It time to stand up and speak up about these things. The selfish self -centered quest for the presence is one of those things that must be confronted.

Why is there not one reference of believers going to a gathering of His people to experience the “presence” in the entire New Testament?

Why are we are still in an Old Testament paradigm?

Why do we seek the Presence of the Lord?

Here are some thoughts to help us understand how we got in this mess and why this confusion concerning His presence remains in the Body of Christ like a terminal illness.

Most Christians live carnal and immoral lives throughout the week. Very few Christians live in 24/7 relationship with the Lord. Most believers flow in and out between spiritual and secular like hot and cold running water faucets. This idea finds no basis in scripture. There is no such thing as a life for “Church Stuff and a different life for “My Stuff”. We confuse the change in feeling from the lows of our daily quenching of the Holy Spirit to the high of His fullness as the arrival of His presence. This usually happens when we repent of our sins and return in our hearts to abide in Him. The Holy Spirit is a Person and not a comes and goes feeling.

Most Christians believe that the Lord abides in buildings. Many confuse the House of the Lord for a church building. Scripture clearly says the Lord does not abide in buildings made by human hands and as part of the New Covenant the Lord’s House is now us. Most Christians and leaders know this fact in their head but not in their hearts.

Most Christians look to men (clergy system) to bring us His presence. We are not anti-leadership, or those who reject the existence of fivefold elders functioning in their gifts to mature the body of Christ. This is very different from the dependence we have misplaced today on Pastors/Priests/Worship Leaders and the celebrity status we have given to them. The scriptures are very clear that only the Lord Jesus is the mediator between God and man. This is not helped by the fact that most Christians are not students of the Scriptures.

The religious system needs us to stay confused. They need our attendance to financially support the modern business of “Church” My Facebook stream is filled every Sunday afternoon with believers extolling the mighty presence they felt in their congregations. Some even change congregations when they no longer get that feeling. Many jump from congregation to congregation depending on who has the well-known speakers or the popular worship groups. Because of this the modern religious system spends millions of dollars weekly to affect the ambiance of their services. Churches compete for an audience with dry ice, incense, special lights, video effects, comfortable seating, professional musicians and singers and charismatic orators to keep the people happy “in His presence”. Of course, all these amenities cost money to maintain so the services are built around making sure you feel “His Presence” and stay to pay for the salaries and the mortgages. Preachers also jump from church to church selling their titles and resumes to the highest bidder like NFL football players. It is a sad state of affairs to say the least but for the system to continue and thrive they need you to stay confused concerning His Real Presence.

Most Christians say “It has always been this way!” Few Christians have the courage to buck the religious system. Most of us have never experienced anything any different than the models we see today. We agree with values from the business sector and say if its big and growing it must be God. We also wrongly surmise If they can sustain a large budget they must have the backing of the Lord. I have heard this many times; “they have the seminary degrees and the religious titles so they must know more than us.” The problem is an identity issue. The status-quo remains and is maintained by believers who don’t know who they are in Christ.

What is the REAL Presence of Christ?

The REAL presence of Christ doesn’t come and go like it did in the Old Testament. We are New Testament believers and as such we live in a NEW totally different and better Covenant. The Lord Jesus entered into the Presence of the Father that we who believe may abide (remain) in His presence eternally. This assurance is the greatest strength of the New Testament believer (that the Lord would never leave us or forsake us).  Any insecurity concerning His presence in us and with us is the enemies greatest weapon against believers so that they may not accomplish what they were left on earth for.

Let’s look now at what the scriptures do say about the presence of the Lord (the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity);

The Lord Jesus calls the Holy Spirit our Helper.

The Holy Spirit comes alongside to help us accomplish the will of the Lord in our daily life. Without His presence, we can do nothing of eternal value.

John 16:7-8

7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.  NKJV

The Lord Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the promise of the Father

The Holy Spirit came at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit is a gift. The disciples didn’t work for the Holy Spirit to come down and we don’t need to work for His presence in us now. In the New Covenant the Lord Jesus Christ has fulfilled everything that the Father needed done. The Lord Jesus said on the cross “It is finished” and He wasn’t talking about His death.

Acts 1:4-5

4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me;   5. for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” NKJV

It is the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Christ that abides permanently in us.

As Christians, we are to enjoy a daily relationship with Him. To abide is to be daily nourished with the strength and the encouragement He only supplies to each of His Children.

Eph 1:13-14

13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. NKJV

The Real Presence is the Holy Spirit’s indwelling in every believer

From the position of abiding we can be filled to overflowing and help others with that which has helped us. The only hope for this society, generation and world is a Body of Christians full of the Holy Spirit.

Col 1:27

To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. NKJV

In Conclusion

The Lord is here. He is with you and He has nothing but the best plans for your life. He has sent the Holy Spirit to strengthen the Body of Christ. His presence is always with you and if you take time to listen He will guide you to all truth.  The presence of the Lord is not from outside in anymore now in the new covenant it is from inside out.

Be careful what you allow in your space. In this society, we must be very watchful about what we hear and what we see. The Holy Spirit is quenched by things like sin, lack of love and consistent disobedience. Not so much to rules but to His promptings. You are here with a purpose and you were bought with a price. You belong to Him and He expects you as the Body of Christ to be His hands and feet. It’s not about you anymore!

With life comes tribulation and with tribulation comes suffering. Because we know He lives in us we can stand when nothing around us makes sense. We trust Him. He is in control. From that place we move forward to shine brightly in a world darkened by sin and greed.

May you hear His voice and obey.

Chip Brogden

Why Does Fellowship Elude Us?

If everyone is looking for fellowship, why is fellowship so hard to find?  And once we have found it, why is it so hard to maintain it?

When God begins to bring you out of church and into a deeper relationship with Himself, there is a lot of unlearning that has to take place – particularly in the area of fellowship.

It has been said that every lost person has a Christ-shaped void in their heart that only Christ can fill.  A similar thing can be said of believers who come out of the religious system.  When God calls us to be with Him “outside the camp,” there is a church-shaped void in our heart where church used to be.  This void makes us feel restless and insecure and empty.  We remember the fellowship we used to enjoy, and we begin to long for it.  Pretty soon, we begin to look for things to fill the church-shaped void in our heart.

This explains the seemingly endless pursuit of fellowship.  Some look for it in the house church movement.  Some look for it in a small-group setting, or in a living room, or at a coffee shop.  People typically gravitate towards the opposite extreme of what they were hurt or disillusioned by. Problem with the pastor?  We will look for (or create) a group without any spiritual leadership.  Problem with doctrine?  We will look for (or create) a group that agrees with us in belief, doctrine, or teaching.

Often it is nothing more complicated than trying to take all the “good stuff” we remember from our church days and attempting to re-create it outside of church – without all the “bad stuff” that made us leave in the first place.  We will simply look for (or create) an environment that delivers the best of both worlds: all the things we love about church, without all the things we hate.

Once I was in a home meeting and someone was sharing a deep hurt.  I sensed the spirit of God was about to minister a word of wisdom and comfort to this person.  Suddenly, a brother who had been flipping through an old hymn book, oblivious to the surroundings, announced, “Let’s all sing Number 423!”  Besides being rude to the other person and insensitive to how the Spirit of God was moving, what was the brother’s problem?  He was trying to recreate a certain “atmosphere” that he once enjoyed in church.  In his quest to make things happen on his terms, he completely misread the situation.  It was left up to me to tell him to hush, and why singing a hymn wasn’t appropriate at this exact moment.  He (predictably) was offended, accusing me of being “anti-worship” 🙂 . But his behavior illustrates a longing to go back and enjoy something he used to enjoy in church, without actually going back to church.

Here’s a radical thought: what if the church-shaped void in our heart isn’t meant to be filled with anything?  What if God intends for us to get rid of that church-shaped void and stop trying to fill it?  Isn’t the church-shaped void in our heart really just an idol?  And that idol not only hinders our spiritual growth and maturity in a Christ-centered faith, it also hinders our relationships with one another and prevents us from entering into real Spirit-and-Truth fellowship with one another.

5 Reasons Why Fellowship Eludes Us

Why is fellowship so elusive to us?  Everyone says they seek it, yet everyone says it is difficult to find.  Those who find it cannot maintain it for long.  Those that do manage to maintain it often end up looking more like an institutional church than a real Body of Christ.

I submit the following five reasons…

1. Indulging in “Fellowship Fantasies.” We often create unrealistic, unbiblical expectations of what fellowship is, and then we try to fulfill those “fellowship fantasies” in the real world. We imagine what the perfect meeting or group looks like, sounds like, and acts like – we may even experience a temporary rush at finding what we describe as the “perfect” church, house church, or group to fellowship with – but then we are surprised and disappointed to find that no one can live up to our idealistic notions.  Some will end up going back to church, and others will just go from one group to the next in the endless pursuit of “like-mindedness.”

To overcome this, get real clear on one thing: there are no perfect churches, perfect groups, or perfect meetings.  Get over your fellowship fantasy so you can interact with imperfect, immature people in the real world.

2. Chronic “Meetingitus.” This condition is contracted through years of attending church. Those who suffer from Chronic Meetingitus can only fathom fellowship in the context of a meeting – because that is the only context in which they have ever experienced it.

I first diagnosed this in a brother who met me for lunch many years ago.  I thought we were having good fellowship, but soon he turned the conversation around to his real purpose: where do I meet, and who do I meet with?  When I answered that I didn’t meet with anyone at the moment, his face literally fell and with a sad, whiney voice he said, “Oh, I was SO hoping to find some fellowship around here!”  And he began to regale me with all the other meetings he had attended elsewhere.  It occurred to me that if the brother really wanted fellowship, he could have had it right then and there with me sitting at the table; instead, what he really wanted was a “Meeting.”  He couldn’t conceive of any important spiritual interaction taking place outside of an official meeting or gathering.

If you are afflicted with this condition, you are severely limiting your opportunities for fellowship.   Expand your thinking to include any kind of interaction with other brothers and sisters as an opportunity for “fellowship.”  Stop trying to capture “fellowship” and stuff it into a certain time and place.  Eliminate the need for regularly scheduled meetings and open your eyes to the opportunities right in front of you.

3. The “Done For Me” Fellowship Model. This is a variant of the typical Fellowship Fantasy but sounds more spiritual. It’s an idealistic notion of how things “should be.”  Scriptures are produced to support an idea of how meetings and fellowship should be conducted, and this (along with a little help from our favorite house church leaders) is used as a template to critique  whatever group we’re attending.  Invariably, the group falls short of the “New Testament model” and disappointment ensues.  “You’re doing it all wrong!” the critic cries, and either causes a commotion or leaves in consternation.

But what is the underlying expectation?  We want to walk into a “done for me” fellowship that requires nothing from us.  We want all the people to be fully grown with a mature model of church government in place and everything running smoothly according to the “New Testament pattern” we envision – but we aren’t willing to invest ourselves into making it happen.  We want a ready-made fellowship that we can just show up and benefit from without having to do any of the hard work of making it work.  I doubt any such fellowship exists, or would survive for very long.

4. Self-Destructive Self-Centeredness. Fellowship is based on relationship.  Relationship is based on loving God and loving others.  Since love is based on putting others first, Self-Centeredness is not compatible with fellowship.  This, in a nutshell, gets to the heart of the matter.  We spent years going to church to get our needs met – the service was for us, the sermon was for us, the music was for us, the pastor was for us, the fellowship was for us.  Now we are looking for fellowship, and the motivation still revolves around getting our needs met.  We “need” fellowship, we “need” social interaction, we “need” other people, we “need” encouragement from like-minded believers.  And so, we really haven’t changed at all.  We’re still consumed, absorbed, obsessed, and infatuated with what we need and frustrated by what we don’t have.

So it’s no wonder that fellowship eludes the Self-Centered.  In the world of banking, if everyone shows up to make a withdrawal, and no one makes a deposit, the whole system goes bankrupt.  Many fellowships and groups are spiritually bankrupt for the very same reason – everyone is taking but no one is giving.  They suck each other dry with their problems, their needs, their issues.  Many would argue that the gathering of Believers is the place where people SHOULD come to get their problems solved, their needs met, and their issues resolved.  I would suggest, however, that the gathering of Believers is the place where people should come to be problem solvers, to meet the needs of others, and to help others work through their issues.  It sounds similar, but the difference is like night and day. The end result will be that everyone’s needs are met because everyone is giving without expecting to receive – and in the giving and helping and ministering to one another, our personal needs are met.  Ironically, if we focus on “getting” instead of “giving” we end up bankrupting ourselves and everyone else.  This is the death sentence for many groups that drags you down instead of building you up.

5. Dysfunctional Relationships. The biggest reason why fellowship eludes us has to do with our own inability to understand what healthy relationships look like. As I watch these Christian dating commercials I see women who are head over heels “in love” with the man of their dreams, gushing about what he does for them, and how he makes them feel.  I’m a little bit concerned about the future of any relationship that is based on how the other person makes them “feel.” Why? Because there is a misconception that love is based on what the other person does for me, and how they make me feel.  This is not true love at all; it is too Self-Centered to be genuine love.

A relationship is not about what I can take from the relationship, but what I can give to the relationship.  A dysfunctional relationship is based on what I’m getting out of it.  If I’m getting what I want, I’m happy and I feel loved and satisfied; if not, I am unhappy and I feel unloved, and I start wondering about the relationship.  This is 100% backwards!

But when this attitude creeps into all our relationships, the result is disaster.  When that happens, my relationship with God hinges on what God does for me – I am happy and feel loved as long as I am healthy, wealthy, blessed, and feeling good.  But if God lets me down too many times, I start to question the relationship, and I feel unhappy.  Well, that’s not love, that’s a dysfunctional relationship you have with God.

What does this have to do with fellowship?  Everything.  Because fellowship is based on relationships with others.  And if your idea of a relationship is “what can I get out of it” instead of “what can I put into it” then the relationship will fail.   It doesn’t matter if the relationship is a marriage, a friendship, a business partnership, an employer-employee relationship, or the fellowship that exists between brothers and sisters.  To make relationships work, we have to give more than we get.  A dysfunctional, one-sided relationship ruins the whole thing, and that makes fellowship impossible.

Why God Doesn’t Allow Fellowship

Here’s a strange concept: God may be closing doors in your life when it comes to fellowship with others.  We seek it, we pray for it, we complain about it, yet God does not give us what we ask for.  Why not?

1. To break religious addiction. Often when a person gives up one addiction (like smoking) they end up taking on a new addiction (like overeating). It is difficult to recognize an addiction and overcome it without finding something else to replace it.  In the case of religious addiction, some leave the church and immediately go out in search of another addiction to replace it.  “Fellowship” becomes the new drug of choice – it sounds so spiritual! – and people tend to wander around in search of their next fellowship “fix.”  It is a very real psychological and spiritual condition.

God will not reinforce or encourage your religious addiction by giving you more fellowship.  In my experience, He longs to have you all to Himself for a little while.  He seeks intimacy with you that you have probably never experienced before (and will probably never experience) until He can get you alone and apart with Him for a season.  The stronger the addiction, the more difficult it is to accept these seasons of being alone with God – and the more difficult it is to accept, the more necessary it is for you to learn to be totally and completely satisfied in God; so satisfied that people can take nothing away from it, and people can add nothing to it.  This is critically important to recognizing true fellowship when God allows it.  He only allows it when He can trust you with it, and knows it will not just be another religious addiction for you to become enslaved to.

2. To reduce us to Christ. The question always needs to be asked: “Is Jesus enough for you?” For many, the honest answer is no.  They feel they “must” have fellowship, social interaction, and the smiling faces of brothers and sisters constantly encouraging them on.  Without this support, they are moody, irritable, lonely, and dissatisfied.  Jesus is not enough for them.

For that very reason, God must deny us the fellowship we so desperately seek from others and reduce us to Christ – to bring us to the place where Jesus is all you want, and Jesus is all you need.  People can only take us so far.  If our spiritual life depends on being in constant contact with people then what happens when people are not around?  Exactly what people searching for fellowship complain of: loneliness and emptiness.

How is such loneliness and emptiness  possible?  Simply because we have more faith and assurance in the people we see around us than in the invisible, indwelling Christ Who lives within us.  People will disappear and disappoint; on the other hand, Jesus has never left us, and will never forsake us!  The solution is more of Jesus and less of everything else – and for most people, “fellowship” is part of the “everything else” that has to be sacrificed for a time, until Christ has preeminence in them.

3. To teach us the true meaning of love. We have looked at the reasons why fellowship eludes us. They all relate to a Self-Centered existence that is not compatible with the Christ-Centered Life, which means it is not compatible with Love.  When people get together in this state it creates more problems than it solves and does tremendous damage.  This is why many have come out of the religious system; yet, if we do not unlearn what we learned to do in church, we’ll create the same problems and do even more damage when we meet outside of the church.

God needs to do some work in us before we are fit to fellowship with others.  We have to learn what a real love relationship looks like.  Where do we learn it?  As we enter into a new season of being alone and apart with God, we begin to understand what true love is. And when those lessons of love are learned in our personal relationship with God, He shows us how to apply those same lessons of love in all our other relationships.  We benefit from a better marriage, better working relationships, and deeper, richer fellowship with others – all in due season.  Our personal relationship with God is the foundation upon which all other healthy relationships can grow and thrive.  This is why we emphasize this One Relationship above all others: it is the most important, yet often, it is the most neglected.

4. To prepare us for tribulation. Regardless of what you believe about the Rapture and the Tribulation, Jesus says that we will experience tribulation in this world. Many Christians around the world currently suffer persecution without the comfort of other people to support them or encourage them.  Yet, these same Christians have shown us time and again that they have a strong spiritual life, and they continue to produce spiritual fruit (including joy!) in spite of deep affliction.

If your spiritual life is based on church, or meetings, or regular face-to-face fellowship with others, what happens when those things are taken away, or denied, or not available, because of persecution or tribulation?  It has happened before, and it could happen again; and if it does, many will stumble and fall because they have not learned how to live in Christ, and find their joy in Him, without fellowshipping with others.  It is only by the grace of God that they can maintain their testimony, and they will be the first to fall when persecution arises.

And so, God often denies us the very thing we seek (fellowship) until a particular time and season that comes only after a period of seeming isolation; and even then, the fellowship we enjoy is precious because it is so fleeting.  It seems to come and go.  Our spiritual life is constantly tested by these ebbs and flows of fellowship.

But here is an interesting reality: we can only experience true fellowship when we know we can live without it.  The more we cling to fellowship, the more elusive fellowship becomes.  If we can let go of our need for other people, and find our support in Christ alone, it actually prepares us for deeper, more satisfying fellowship and relationship with others.  Getting everything we need from the Lord actually means when we do interact with others, we can support, help, encourage, and give ourselves away to them without expecting or needing anything in return.  Having God as our Source strengthens our relationships with others and puts them (and us) in a much better position: one where we can truly get out of our own world, focus on others, and make better use of the opportunities all around us for really building each other up.

Michael Clark

Words, Words, Words or Will We be One?

In the musical “My Fair Lady,” Eliza Doolittle (a woman taken off the streets of London by Professor Henry Higgins, a linguist who has been teaching her proper English), says to her would be suitor, “Words, words, words. I’m so sick of words! I get words all day through, first from him, now from you! Is that all you blighters can do?” Good question, Eliza. In this day of desktop publishing the problem of an abundance of words with little Holy Spirit content has become epidemic. T. Austin-Sparks, another Englishman, observed the same problem among Christian ministries where words are cheap and plentiful.

A striking feature of our time is that so few of the voices have a distinctive message. There is a painful lack of a clear word of authority for the times…. Why is it so? May it not be that so many who might have this ministry have become so much a part of a system? A system which puts preachers so much upon a professional basis, the effect of which is to make preaching a matter of demand and supply; of providing for the established religious order and program? Not only in the matter of preaching, but in the whole organization and activity of “Christianity” as we have it in the systematized form today. There is not the freedom and detachment for speaking ONLY when “the burden of the word of the Lord” is upon the prophet, or when he could say, “The hand of the Lord was upon me.” The present order requires a man [or woman] to speak every so often; hence he must get something, and this necessity means either that God must be offered our program and asked to meet it (which He will not do) or the preacher must make something for the constantly recurring occasion. This is a pernicious system and it opens the door to any number of dangerous and baneful intrusions of what is of man and not of God. The most serious aspect of this way of things is that it results in voices, voices, voices, a confusion of voices, but not the specific voice with the specific utterance of God for the time…. (1)

Frankly, I also am tired of all the “words, words, words” with so little or no anointing behind them. I have had to whittle down my “Following” list to a handful of bloggers. I, also, have grown suspicious of the spiritual content of the ones that put out a periodical posting on a regular basis, whether it is daily or even weekly. Sometimes I go for weeks without Him giving me any inspiration to write and then, “Bang!” I might get three messages in a row only a day or two apart. Can you see Isaiah, Peter or John saying to themselves, “Oops, it is Sunday morning at 10AM and I need to get down to the temple and prophesy a chapter or two. The faithful are counting on me. I need to keep up my presence before the people or I will lose them”?

Amos prophesied this exact problem would be coming upon us saying, “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, “when I will send a famine on the land— not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD” (Amos 8:11, ESV2011). Today there are thousands of Christian websites, blogs, podcasts, books, sermons, YouTube videos, Sunday services, and conferences where would-be authors and “ministers for Christ” spew out their cacophony of words, even laced with Bible verses, but how many of these messages have come out from the heart of God? When He finally does manage to get a word in edgewise, who in the land of Christendom has an ear to hear and distinguish it from the rest? Yes, Amos, there is a famine of hearing the words of the Lord, either because our minds are numb from all the words we bombard them with or we have never had spiritual hearing in the first place.

In 1980, God heard my cry to hear what He wanted me to do while the church we were members of went through a very destructive split. He answered my prayers by unplugging me from going to regular church meetings and reading almost all things by Christian authors so that I would learn to distinguish His voice from the all the other voices speaking in His name. The hardest to distinguish form His were the ones that preached with a lot of Bible verses to back up their points. Satan knows the Bible better than any of us and he knows how to use it to his advantage. It took years for me to get to the place where I could tell the difference and recognize when God was speaking to me and the further I go, the more quietly He whispers forcing me to draw ever closer to Him with greater attentiveness.

Austin-Sparks continues,

Here we have the necessity for an awakening to what God has to say. In the Revelation, this is “He that hath an ear, let him hear,” and in the case of Laodicea – which represents the end – it is “I counsel thee to buy of Me eye salve that thou mayest see.” “And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me,” said John. God is speaking, He has something to say, but there must be “a Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your heart being enlightened.” (1)

Jesus is the Word of God! He speaks to those who are His sheep. They know His voice and will not follow the voices of strangers (read John Ch. 10). Yet, so many Christians have said to me, “How can I know when Jesus is speaking to me?” To many of them the answer is, “Unplug! You are listening to and reading too many teachers. Break this habit of heaping to yourself teachers who tickle your ears. Get alone with God for a few months until you start hearing His whispered voice. Talk with Him and let Him be your friend above all friends.”

I find that few follow my advice. We go to church and read to be entertained and are information addicts. The more He gives me a word that puts the finger on where the spiritual problems are in Christendom, the smaller the audience becomes. Only a few have ears to hear what the Spirit IS saying to the church. If I want to see the stat counter on my blog jump up, all I have to do is speak words of comfort that do not challenge the status quo in Christendom. I completely understand the problem that Isaiah had with the people of Israel when God told him,

Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come, forever and ever: That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: Who say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: Get out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. (Isa 30:8-11, KJ2000)

The moment Christianity became acceptable, popular and condoned by the Roman Empire in the fourth century, it started to die. The Christian faith is not a popularity contest, but rather a threat to this world and the prince that controls it. Didn’t Jesus say that few would find the straight path and narrow gate to eternal life? I think that the following quotation points out why.

For “the crowd” is untruth. Eternally, godly, christian-ly what Paul says is valid: “only one receives the prize,” [I Corinthians. 9:24] not by way of comparison, for in the comparison “the others” are still present. That is to say, everyone can be that one, with God’s help – but only one receives the prize; again, that is to say, everyone should cautiously have dealings with “the others,” and essentially only talk with God and with himself – for only one receives the prize; again, that is to say, the human being [singular] is in kinship with… the divinity. (2)

This is exactly what Jesus prayed just before He went to the cross,

Sanctify them [purify, consecrate, separate them for Yourself, make them holy] by the Truth; Your Word is Truth… That they all may be one, [just] as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe and be convinced that You have sent Me. (John 17:17 & 21, AMP)

This gives me a whole new light on what Jesus was praying, “Sanctify and set them apart to yourself, Father, that they might be ONE even as we are one…” God desires of us a singleness of eye, not focused on the world or even our fellow Christians, but on our heavenly Father. “Only ONE receives the prize.”

(1) http://www.austin-sparks.net/english/001541.html
(2) The Single Individual, by Søren Kierkegaard

What Does it Mean to be One IN Christ?

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Gal 3:27-28, ESV2011 – emphasis added)

We are IN Him because we were baptized (Grk. baptizo – immersed or submerged) INTO Christ by the Spirit. Many have been immersed into water in a ceremony without being immersed into Him and they struggle all their lives trying to be “good” Christians. On the other hand we who have believed into Christ (the true meaning of John 3:16) are immersed in Christ! We have put on Christ just as a swimmer “puts on water” when he dives into the pool! Do you want to put on the full armor of God? It is the armor of Christ! Put on Christ and you will be wearing His armor, too. The sooner we quit seeing ourselves as separate from and outside of Him, the sooner we will walk totally by faith in Him.

In this state of being in Christ, we are no longer separated from each other by gender, nationality, religion, distance or even age. All things that were lost by Adam and Eve in their relationship with our Father and each other when they fell have been recovered by the power of Christ’s death and resurrection as we now dwell in heavenly places in Christ just as they dwelt with the Father in the Garden of Eden.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ …and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (Eph 2:4-6, ESV2011)

We might even live on a different continent and many time zones away from another dear saint that we know in Christ, but that doesn’t mean that we live separate lives if we are both in the Son. Paul wrote that in Christ’s body we are members one of another, and when one member suffers all members suffer with them. When one member rejoices, all members rejoice with them. Neither time, distance, gender, nationality nor any other earthly institution or thing can separate us when we are knit together as one in Christ. The only thing that can separate us from one another and our heavenly place with the Father is unbelief, which pulls us back down into the realm where the prince of this world reigns and can torment us.

Do we have to be good enough to be one with and in Christ before the Father? No! The Amplified version makes it even clearer.

But God–so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us, Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation). (Eph 2:4-5, AMP)

The largest part of our salvation is seeing that we sit together in heavenly places in Christ and that all the “normal” things that once divided us in this world are gone! We have become a new creation, heavenly beings, because we are citizens of our Father’s kingdom (Philippians 3:20) and our fellowship is with the Father and the Son. Paul wrote something that we really need to understand and walk in if we are ever to be one IN Christ,

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2Cor 5:16-17, ESV2011)

When I was a Catholic, we were taught to kneel down and look at earthly things when we prayed. We looked at statues and images of Jesus hanging on the cross or Mary or the saints for our inspiration. The problem was that these were earthly images and we were trying to know Him “after the flesh.” Even today among Protestants we read the Bible and think on Him and His earthly ministry 2000 years ago. We say, “What would Jesus do?” as if we could conjure up an image of what He would have us do in every situation. Isn’t this still trying to know Him after the days of His flesh on earth? If we never get beyond that, we can be every bit as earth bound as those Catholics who look to images of Him. Why do we gaze off into the heavens (see Acts 1:9-11) when we now are already seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus at the right hand of the Father? Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is in our midst. If we have a heavenly walk with Christ who abides in us, we will know what He IS DOING, and walk that out IN Him. We are new creatures in Christ not by our works, but by His mighty grace and the power of His cross in our lives. It is only our lack of faith in His completed work that holds us earthbound in our sins (falling short of the glory of God). We seem to have more faith in our weakness as sinners and humans than we have in His power to lead us with His Spirit. We fail every time when we look to ourselves or to another member of His body in a fleshly way instead of looking off from ourselves unto Him and seeing them as He does. I once had a pastor who told the elders of the church to quit being critical of how I seemed outwardly and look at my heart for God had shown this man who I really was despite all my outward struggles I was going through. We must know one another in Him after the Spirit, not after the flesh.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith… and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb 12:1-2, ESV2011 – emphasis added)

Dear saints, let us be heavenly minded IN Christ and not earthly minded in ourselves for this is where we will find victorious living together in the unity of the Spirit.

These Are They Who Follow the Lamb Wherever He Goes

All my Christian walk I have run into church leaders and high profile people with various titles in the body of Christ who wanted me to submit to them and their teachings and give them carte blanche authority over my life. “Submit! Submit!” they said. “You need to be under the covering of a pastor and listen to him.” At first this sounded like a reasonable request and I submitted to many different pastors who had many different views and agendas. One by one they either, were squeezed out by a political coup, were found to be in an adulterous relationship, exposed as an alcoholic, or were so incessant about fleecing the flock under them that they ignored the gospel of Christ and the welfare of their people in favor of the love of Mammon in their teachings. After a while I started understanding why Jesus said we would know what manner of tree we are under by its fruit, not by its title, position or lofty words. I have found that godly leadership who are actually led by the Spirit of God and obedient to the voice of Christ exist, but in America at least, they are hard to come by.

In the book of Judges there is a very revealing story that we can learn from today.

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. And the man departed from the town of Bethlehem in Judah to sojourn where he could find a place. And as he journeyed, he came to the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah. And Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to sojourn where I may find a place.” And Micah said to him, “Stay with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year and a suit of clothes and your living.” And the Levite went in. (Judges 17:6-10, ESV2011)

Does this sound familiar? It should! Every year we have thousands of young men graduating from seminary and going out to find a church that they can be pastor over, that will provide them with a living (“ten shekels and a shirt”). So, the above passage probably goes by unnoticed as many Christians read it, because this is the norm in the church today. But notice that the passage starts out with, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” Answer me this: Is Jesus our King, or do we hire a man to be Lord over us who agrees with what we expect from him? If he continues to do what is right in our own eyes, we pay him to keep the status quo. If he preaches a message that steps on too many toes, down the road he goes! Do we hire a man to “do the God stuff” so we can do the world’s stuff in our daily lives and live vicariously through his spirituality on Sundays? When we shop around for a church, what do we look for? Do we look for leadership that can hear the voice of our Lord and guide us until we can hear Him and submit to Him as our King or do we look for those who tickle the ears of our flesh?

Remember Paul’s words,

Become imitators of me, according as I also am of Christ. (1Cor 11:1, CLV – emphasis added)

Paul did not say, “Submit to me and do as I say.” Or, “I am in authority here, I am the Pastor (or apostle or whatever)!” Or like one pastor said from the pulpit one Sunday, “If you can’t get behind me and my vision (agenda) for this church, then go find a pastor who’s vision you CAN get behind.” We are so used to this kind of leadership in our churches that we see it as totally acceptable, but what about Jesus? You know, that Man that died on the cross and affirmed to us that HE was building HIS Church (see Matthew 16:18)? Is He really our Lord and King? To “build the Church” it is not about buying some land and putting up a building. It is not even about gathering great numbers of people in to fill a building one day a week. No, it is about bringing people who have come out of the world by the call of the gospel and maturing them and raising them up into the fullness of Christ!

Today, church planters and church builders are a dime a dozen. But where is the pastor who will do as John did and encourage the people to listen to and obey the Holy Spirit and grow in Christ to where they no longer need human teachers (see 1 John 2:26-27)? My experience in the churches is that the leadership is more interested in their own job security than they are in seeing the saints of God to grow up so that THEY can do the works of service (ministry) in the body of Christ. Instead, men like this try and keep people in their churches as long as possible so that a “Failure to Launch” becomes the norm. True Spirit inspired leaders rejoice instead of feeling threatened when the saints grow up INTO the fullness of Christ and move on to follow their upward call wherever that might take them. Paul wrote about this kind of maturing process,

He [Jesus Christ] who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry [service], for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the [intimate] knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Eph 4:10-16, ESV2011)

We hear a lot of teaching about the importance of the so-called “five-fold ministries” in verse eleven (yanked out of its context), but do we hear the rest of this passage preached? Do we see the maturing of Christians who are no longer influenced by every wind of doctrine and cunning teachers with their humanly devised church programs and schemes? To avoid these kinds of pitfalls the saints need to be able to hear the guiding voice of the Holy Spirit for themselves.

Jesus ascended into heaven that He might fill ALL things! Christ is the head of the body, the ekklesia – the Church. He did not give these five gifts of service (apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher) to men so that they could be the heads of His body. A body with more that one head is in constant chaos and division and this is why there are over 41,000 different denominations and Christian sects today! So, why did Jesus give these five gifts? To bring us all into maturity, “until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge [an intimate knowing] of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Look around your congregations. Do you see anyone who has come into an intimate knowing relationship with Jesus Christ, so much so that they measure up to the stature of His fullness? If not, why not? I can tell you why, the system today in which we “go to church” is broken! We have leaders who have not come into the fullness of Christ themselves and you cannot teach and demonstrate spiritual maturity to a congregation when you do not have it yourself. As a result we have…

The Perpetual Babyhood of the Believer

We read about this spiritual babyhood in Hebrews. The apostle was quite upset with the status quo and came to a full stop in what he was wanting to teach them saying,

About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. (Heb 5:11-14, ESV2011)

Just like today, the Hebrews to whom this letter was written, were dull of spiritual hearing and constantly needed men to teach them the most rudimentary things over and over. They were still on the breasts (sorry, there were no bottle fed babies in those days) of men! They had not been weaned and taught to feed themselves from the bounty of the Spirit. The maturing process spoken of in Ephesians chapter four had not happened and he was exhorting these believers to grow up and “go on to maturity” (see Heb. 6:1). These believers where constantly going to their teachers and saying, “Pastor, is it right or wrong if a person does …” or “What do you think I should do, Pastor?” They were not mature enough to “have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” To have this kind of discernment, your teacher must encourage you to have a hearing ear to the voice of the Holy Spirit instead of the voices of men! Of course you have to have the Holy Spirit abiding IN you, first and this is not true of many who call themselves, “Christian.”

In Christ Is ALL Wisdom and Knowledge

Finally, I would like to add this quote from our brother, T. Austin-Sparks,

You see, it is this other thing all the time that is robbing so many of the light that the Lord would give them. The Lord would lead them into the greater fullness of the knowledge of His Son, of the enlargement of their spiritual understanding, but they are neglecting the gift that is in them. They are neglecting the Holy Spirit as their illuminator and teacher and instructor and guide and arbiter, and they are going to this one and that one, to this authority and that, and saying, What do you think about it? If you think it is wrong, then I will not touch it! It is fatal to spiritual knowledge to do that. That is going on to natural ground.

Now the Lord wants us off that ground. This matter of occupying resurrection ground, of living a life in the Spirit, is all-important in coming to the full knowledge of God’s Son. How much more we could say about that! Let us be careful as to who our authorities are. So many dear children of God, individually and collectively, have come into dire and grievous bondage, limitation, and confusion by all the time going back to human authorities, to this great leader and that, to this man who was greatly used of God, this man who had a great deal of spiritual light.

”The Lord has yet more light and truth to break forth from His Word” than even this or that servant of His possessed. Do you see what I mean? We get all the benefit of the light given to godly people and seek to profit by true light, but we will never come into bondage and say, “That is the end of that matter!” That must never be. We must maintain our resurrection ground. And who can exhaust that? In other words, who can exhaust the meaning of Christ risen? He is a boundless store, the land of far distances. No man yet has ever done more than begun to know the meaning of Christ risen. If there has been one man who has that meaning more than another, I suppose it was Paul. But to the last from his prison he still cries, ”That I may know Him!” “I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things and do count them but refuse” (Phil. 3:8). Right at the end of a life like his, he is still saying, “That I may know Him!”

Father, please let this message go into the hearts of those who belong to Jesus that they might hear HIS voice and keep pressing into your kingdom as they follow Him. Amen.

Two or Three… Intimacy in Christ

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20 KJ2000)

What does it mean to have intimacy with our Lord? Jesus often indicated that God desires intimacy with all of us. For instance, in John chapters ten and fifteen, He is a Shepherd that calls His sheep by name and leads them in a personal way. He is the Vine and we, His branches, are attached directly to Him and we get all our nourishment from Him. Even evangelical churches call Him our Personal Savior. But after we get saved in one of these institutions, how “personal” does He become to us?

Most of us grow up in families that are very fractured and in most, even the best of them, time spent with our parents in an intimate way is very rare due to the pressures of supporting a family and so many other distractions like TV. Then there is “church.”

In my own experience with “church,” the machine divides the family from having time together more than it promotes family intimacy. There is the need to be at the church every time it is open; Sunday morning service that ushers the kids off to “children’s church;” Sunday school that is divided up by age groups; Wednesday night prayer service that doesn’t welcome kids; and all the kid and youth activities at the church during the week. Let’s not forget to mention Royal rangers and church youth camp. On and on it goes, all in the name of promoting a “Godly family.” Go figure!

The same thing happens with our own “personal” relationships with Christ. We get “saved” and then what happens? We are told that we need to sit and listen to sermons delivered by one man. We have go to Sunday school classes with their man-made curriculums (and even fill in the blanks) in a one-size-fits-all lesson plan. If we dare to share what is really on our hearts on “prayer meeting night,” it is sure to become the gossip for the church “prayer chain” during the week. So we learn to be secluded, isolated and divided instead of truly becoming members one of another as the Church was meant to do.

The Machine prevails in the lives of most Christians. Their “relationship” with who they think God is becomes like that scene our of 1984, where all the people have blank stares on their faces as they watch Big Brother on the screen and are filled with his mind controlling propaganda. Is it any wonder that Christian circles have a “group speak” that is blindly followed that dictates what is proper to say and what is not?

So, what must happen in the life of a saint that is caught-up in this system for him or her to find that intimacy with the Lord Jesus had in mind when He saved them? …

Read the rest of the article here: https://awildernessvoice.wordpress.com/2014/08/06/two-or-three-intimacy-in-christ/

Russell Croft

Effing with the Ineffable – What the Bible Is, and What It 

The Bible is the inerrant, infallible word of God! The Bible says it, I believe it, and that settles it.

If you are a Christian, you have probably heard these kinds of comments too many times to count. They are usually used to defend an exclusionary view of God – who and what God loves and doesn’t love. Claiming that God is more loving and inclusive than the strict boundaries that are regularly read out of the Bible goes against the “clear teaching of scripture”, and has become one of the great heresies of our day.

Evangelical leader and Reformed Baptist pastor John MacArthur in the United States, and Archbishop of the Sydney Anglican Diocese in Australia, Glenn Davies, have both caused waves recently with their exclusionary reading of scripture – John MacArthur, in telling female preacher and fellow evangelical, Beth Moore, that she should stop preaching and “Go home”, because women taking on preaching roles goes against his clear reading of scripture; and Glenn Davies, for telling his fellow Australian Anglican bishops who support same-sex marriage to “Please leave us [the Anglican Church as a whole]”, as to him, scripture “clearly” condemns these unions and such a viewpoint has no place within the Anglican Church.

So why do many Christians see the Bible this way? Is it the only justifiable way to view scripture?

Raised to believe

Many of us were raised to believe that if it is in the Bible, then it is the Word of God. *His* direct message, straight from the horse’s mouth onto paper through human hands in an act of “divine inspiration” that cannot and should not ever be questioned. We’re told that if it is in the Bible, then it literally happened, exactly as it was written down.

Often overlooked, however, is that the various writers conveying the same story in scripture often have very different perspectives on what happened (eg conflicting accounts of creation in Genesis, the differing flood narratives, whether it is the satan or God *Himself* who drives King David to sin, the four gospels). In the book of Joshua, upon meeting an angel of the Lord, the titular character asks, “Are you for us, or for our enemies?” – to which the mysterious messenger replies “Neither”. Interestingly enough, throughout the rest of the same book, the writers then proceed to appropriate God’s blessing for the wholesale slaughter of the occupants of Canaan because God had apparently changed *His* mind and chosen sides.

God creates evil, God doesn’t create evil. God demands sacrifice, God never even asked for sacrifice. God ordains the slaughter of evil kings and priests, and later God detests their murders. God deliberately hardens hearts against him yet doesn’t want anyone to be estranged from his goodness. It is all in the Bible. How is it possible to create a clear reading of scripture from such glaring contradictions?

The simple answer is that it is not possible when one views the Bible in such a literal way. All sorts of theological gymnastics have to occur to defend such a view, not to mention conveniently ignoring verses that don’t line up with the particular narrative that one might try to pull out of scripture; which, considering the foundational argument of inerrancy and infallibility, is quite perplexing, if not humorous. Of course the easiest way to deal with all this conjecture is that “God’s ways are higher than our ways”, a platitude that is meaningless in itself and also devoids our entire understanding of life, creation and – most importantly in this discussion – faith of any meaning whatsoever.

A better way

But there is a better way to read the Bible, one that makes sense of all its disparities in a more appropriate manner. One that holds and honours the human element in composing the holy book. It does require a letting go of any “preciousness” one might attach to scripture, but it also allows a much more beautiful and reassuring picture of God to blossom if one is willing to explore it, enabling its true holiness to shine.

Instead of viewing the Bible as God speaking directly to the ancient Israelites, giving them *His* explicit instructions for life every step of the way, perhaps the better way is to see the Bible as the story of Israel’s ongoing discovery of who God is and their relationship with *Him*, the nations and all of creation. What starts out as a very polytheistic, tribal and let’s face it, bloodthirsty understanding of God (in line with the divine beliefs of their neighbours), eventually becomes more monotheistic, redemptive and merciful. Every step of the way, God patiently takes the current beliefs of the Israelites and slowly tweaks them, not necessarily through the direct revelation of a voice from the sky, but through their experiences and hardships and their desires for a more loving and just world.

Our projection of violence is not God

The violence that we then see attributed to God’s will, is not God’s will at all; only Israel’s misguided understanding of what they assume God’s will would be. God does not condone this view, but *He* is patient with them, knowing that shifts in consciousness must happen slowly if they are to take root. *He* takes Abraham’s inherited belief in deistically required child sacrifice and steps him and his burgeoning nation away slowly from such a view; and eventually from sacrifice altogether. What Israel initially sees as God’s glory over the Baals and Molechs and Ashtoreths whenever they brutally massacre their enemies changes as they come to see God as the only God, of all nations, and *His* desire for their neighbours as more redemptive than punitive.

The inspiration of Scripture

The “inspiration of scripture” that inerrantists put so much stock in, is not in every word being written by the hand of God *Himself*. Rather, scripture is inspired because in the midst of all of Israel’s (and our) very human desire for violence, retribution and punishment for our enemies, grace still manages to shine through, its mercies offered on an ever-widening scale as their (and our) faith evolves.

In fact, there is great danger in taking an inerrantist view of scripture. It is a view that takes a very immature, violent and tribally exclusive understanding of God in Israel’s earlier days of discovery and relationship with *Him* and holds it up at the same level as the more mature, inclusive and redemptive understandings of God and *His* grace that begin to shine through the cracks of Israel’s retributive theology.

It is on par with holding up a primary school level of education as being equivalent to a bachelor’s degree.

The true Word of God

Of course, Jesus is the culmination of the scriptures. Everything points to him as the perfect expression of God’s character, and the ultimate expression of grace. Anything else in the Bible – before or after – that falls short of his standard of love, acceptance and forgiveness for one’s enemies is a perspective that still requires a maturing of grace.

So when Christians like John MacArthur and Glenn Davies choose to highlight exclusionary passages of scripture to justify their desire to express faith in exclusionary ways, what they are really doing is rejecting the developing biblical narrative of grace that we are invited to participate in for a rigid belief structure based on an ancient belief system that was nowhere near as rigid as what these men now claim.

We have a choice now, to take men like this at their word and revere the dirt that they hold up in the Bible as the definition of God’s character, or to dig deeper to discover the gold of grace upon grace buried deeper within.

The Curious Atheist

On Being an Example

We’ve all had those “talks” with our parents where they tell us to have a good attitude and be kind to others even when we don’t want to. Whenever I would have that talk with my mother, she would tell me to “act Christian.” I know that a large part of her reason for saying this is because, frankly, she believes that Christians are morally superior to non-Christians, but I like to think that there is another, better meaning behind this piece of advice. If the people I interact with know (or think they know) that I’m a Christian, then the way that I act will influence their perceptions of Christians and how Christians treat others.

Of course, I don’t think you could really tell anyone to “act Christian” or “act atheist” or “act liberal” or what have you, because as long as you’re a Christian, or an atheist, or a liberal, then anything that you do will be acting like one, because you are one. That being said, it is important that whatever group you identify with, you represent it well. If you are a Christian, you need to be kind. If you’re an atheist, you need to be kind. You never know when you might be the only Christian or the only atheist that someone knows. Of course your views and beliefs are important, but what is more important is how you represent those with your set of beliefs.

It’s hard not to group all atheists together or group all Christians together. Some are better than others, from both groups. One of the reasons that people dislike Christians is because among their religious demographic are people like Matt Walsh, the blogger who never hesitates to brutally judge anyone and everyone while using scripture as his weapon. People like timothyach and Tony Burgess are the ones who redeem Christianity by doing their best to see things from all sides and welcome those who don’t share their beliefs with open arms to their blogs and their discussions. Of course, there is a wide range of atheists as well, some better than others. YouTuber The Amazing Atheist, while I haven’t seen much of his content, strikes me as particularly hateful towards Christians and Christianity, being a disappointing example of all atheists. CosmicSkeptic (Alex J. O’Connor) is another atheist YouTuber from the other side of the spectrum of skeptics, being extremely humble, logical, and always (as his tagline goes) questioning everything without malice towards religion.

Whether you’re a blogger, a YouTuber, a pastor, a Christian parent, or a closet atheist, it is your responsibility to show others that no specific group has a monopoly on kindness or maturity. While it is difficult not to let our beliefs get the better of us, it is necessary that we can be civil in discussions and listen to every side of every story.

Anthony Cutcliffe

The Graceful Approach

In our dealings with people who do not necessarily believe the same as we do, some of us have a tendency to attack that person’s beliefs. This especially happens on Internet forums, where the flow usually goes like this: One guy says one thing, the other guy says something else. They argue points back and forth until eventually one or both of them goes further and questions the other’s salvation status, eternal destination, integrity, parentage or any mix of the above.

This is not the way it should be!

Especially when the argument is between two Christians and at least one of them is a proponent of a harsh doctrine, such as excluding minority or outcast groups – say homeless or gay people – from Church. Because then, those outside see the harsh attitude – and the way even we more gentle, Grace-believing people respond – and project that onto our loving Heavenly Father. “If that’s how those people represent their god”, they think, “I want nothing to do with him, because if he’s anything like his ‘people’ then he’s not worth bothering with”.

And, given the data they are working from, I would tend to agree. But God is not like that, and we need to find better ways of interacting with others in a non-judgemental fashion. Only in that way can dialogue be maintaned without its breaking down into vitriolic rhetoric.

I love the Col 4:6 passage quoted in the header image: “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone“. If it’s not full of Grace, it’s not full of Jesus. And the ‘seasoned with salt’ bit means make it tasty, make it interesting. (NLT says ‘Gracious and attractive’) And Proverbs 16:24 – “Gracious words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones”. Talk nicely to people, whether face-to-face or online! In that way, at least, other readers – and never forget that there are far more people reading forums that comment on them! – will see that your speech is wholesome and good. And that reflects a ‘Good Witness’ to God’s character developing in you, rather than a ‘Bad Witness‘!

I’d say to so many of the harsh, critical people who lacerate others on forums and elsewhere: Where is your joy? Where is Jesus in your conversation? Where is the conversation full of Grace? The best witness is not dry, out-of-context Scripture passages used as ‘Scripture-bombs‘, but a life of fulness and joy. It’s far better to live the Spirit-filled life and have people ask why you are different. People notice that sort of thing! As Jesus said, a city on a hill cannot be hidden! So, let your speech always be full of Grace!

Here are a couple of interesting articles giving another slant on these ideas. Firstly, an older article about what the Graceful, salt-seasoned speech would look like (click the link to go to the article):

http://hubpages.com/religion-philosophy/Speech-Seasoned-With-Salt

… and then, in this next article, the writer brings to our attention the important point that not everyone is going to believe the same things as everyone else. The way to deal with this is simply to accept that as axiomatic, and stop trying to ‘defend God’ – He’s perfectly capable of defending Himself, thank you very much (again, click the link):

https://donewithreligion.com/2015/11/10/let-me-prove-it-to-you/

…and finally, my own take on coping with people with different views: (you know the drill by now):

http://www.flyinginthespirit.cuttys.net/2015/05/16/coping-with-different-views/

This is really important stuff. The manner of your speech (or writing) – your communications – when Graceful and seasoned with salt, makes a tremendous difference. Even if you don’t ‘win’ your discussion – and don’t forget that the types of people who write on forums will be just as strongly opinionated as you might be, so you probably won’t! – even if you don’t ‘win’, still at least others will see and be impressed by your Graceful speech. And this then reflects well on your Father in Heaven.

Go to it – with Grace!

“Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man” – Colossians 4:6

Dan Dailey

The Sin of Forsaking Fellowship

As of roughly a year ago, I have quit going to church. Permanently. My reasons aren’t relevant to this post, but it wasn’t a decision that I came by easily or quickly. There were many questions that plagued me throughout the time leading up to my eventual departure, but I wish to inspect one of them in particular: What was I going to do for fellowship?

“Fellowship” is something held in very high regard to Christians. It probably should have been included as the 11th commandment. It goes like this:

“let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some” – Hebrews 10:24-25

Oh, man! I certainly didn’t want to be one of those “SOME people”.

I was troubled: If I were to leave, how would I be able to keep this command? How would I be held accountable in my walk with God? Who was going to be there to correct me when I was out of line? Certainly God, by the Holy Spirit, wouldn’t do this himself! I was terrified that if I couldn’t find a satisfactory answer to this question that I may slip and fall away from the faith. I had heard rumors of Christians that didn’t go to church, though I didn’t really know any of them personally, but I was pretty sure the few I’d met were probably not very serious Christians.

Person after person would plead with me to reconsider. If I had to leave the church I was at, or even take a little break for awhile, then that was partially understandable… so long as I didn’t just give up on church completely. These people were genuinely concerned for me (and still are), and I was genuinely terrified for both myself and my family. The last thing I wanted to do was lead them off a spiritual cliff.

The Edge of the World

Once upon a time, the world was flat. It was full of sea monsters that devoured entire ships that ventured too far, and ships that ventured even further were in an even greater danger; they would fall off the edge of the world.

And so it was with my understanding of Christianity. Attempting to follow Jesus without a Pastor or at least a group of other Christians to keep me in line was almost certain spiritual suicide. I was never to leave the safety of the church’s harbor. Still, I wondered if perhaps there was something else that had become of those ships that fell off the horizon. I had recently been doing a bit of sleuthing of my own, and come across the stories of other ex-church explorers that had not only survived, but kept their faith intact.

And then, one day, I had an epiphany…

I live in a country that permits me the freedom to serve any God I choose in pretty much any way I choose. I can go to a Christian bookstore and buy another Bible for my collection any time I like. I have the freedom to pray in public. I can turn on my radio and listen to Christian-themed music (not usually a fan, actually, but I COULD). I can go online and read the thoughts of an endless sea of Christian authors for free, or watch a favorite preacher on television (again, not usually a fan, but I COULD).

But I compared this to what I know of Christian history in the first century, and continuing even today. People are threatened with violence, but they follow Christ. Their own families turn on them, even seeking to kill them, and still they choose Christ. They are starving, and impoverished, yet still they serve Christ. It seems that in the days of the early church a Christian would be killed, but then two more appear in their place. The Christians, the “little-Christs”, were like an unstoppable force.

And here I was, worried that I couldn’t follow Jesus in an environment where I was completely free to do so. No persecutors, a relatively comfortable lifestyle, a happy and healthy family, and I was scared the sea monsters were going to steal away my faith.

Seriously, what kind of a Christian would that make me?

He’s Either In You, or He’s Not

Imagine somebody told you that he really loved his wife more than anything; that she was the center of his life, his reason for living, and that his marriage was the stuff of fantasy. You ask him, “what’s your secret?”

He tells you all about this club for married men that he goes to every week. In this club all the men talk about how much they love their wives and encourage one another to stay faithful to their wives. He also tells you that whenever someone leaves the club, they end up in divorce. He ashamedly admits that every time he himself lapses in attending to this club, he cheats on his wife.

I don’t know about you, but I’d say this guy doesn’t really love his wife.

But is this how we see our relationship with Jesus? As being wholly dependent on membership to a club responsible for keeping us close to him? I began to see that if I were to stop attending a church service then there were only two possible outcomes. The preferable outcome, of course, would be that I would continue serving him as I always had.

Read the complete article here: https://danieldailey.wordpress.com/2015/05/08/the-sin-of-forsaking-fellowship/

Paul Ellis

How to Recognize a Mixed-Grace Gospel

In churches every week, you will hear one of two messages. You will either hear a mixed-grace gospel or you will hear the hyper-grace gospel.

Do you know how to tell the difference?

A mixed-grace gospel combines the unmerited favor of God with the merited wage of human-effort. “You are saved by grace but you maintain your position through right-living,” is an example of a mixed-grace message. “God gives you grace so that you can keep His commands,” is another. These sorts of messages contain an element of grace but ultimately push you to trust in yourself and your own efforts.

Any mixed-grace message can be recognized by the presence of carrots and sticks. Carrots are the blessings you get for obedience; sticks are the penalties you pay for disobedience.

The modern mixed-grace message offers the following carrots: If you confess, you’ll be forgiven; if you do right, you’ll be accepted; if you act holy, you’ll be holy.

And what happens if you don’t do these things? What are the sticks of the mixed-grace message? Fail to perform according to prevailing codes of conduct and you’ll lose your forgiveness, you’ll lose your fellowship, and, if worse comes to worse, you may lose your salvation.

None of this sounds like good news to me.

Yet tragically this is the sort of message that millions of people hear every week. They don’t hear about Jesus; they hear about carrots and sticks.

Bite into any mixed-grace message and you will taste a bitter fruit. You will feel the pressure to perform and smell the fear that comes with failure. You’ll make promises to God and then you’ll break them. You’ll resolve to try harder only to fail again and again. You’ll become burned out and bummed out.

Since a mixed-grace message puts the emphasis on you and what you have done, your identity will become defined by your productivity. You will start to think of yourself as God’s servant instead of His beloved son or daughter. Worst of all, you will end up distracted from Jesus and fallen from grace.

Don’t swallow any poison that comes with a spoonful of grace. And don’t subscribe to any message that leads you to trust in yourself and your works instead of Jesus and His. To paraphrase Watchman Nee, “You can try or you can trust and the difference is heaven and hell.”

And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace. (Romans 11:6)

You may have heard that God gives us grace in order to do good works, but this is misleading. God does not give you grace so that you can work. He gives you grace because He loves you. Period. Those who receive from the abundance of His grace do indeed work and often they work harder than anyone else, but that’s neither here nor there.

The issue is not what you’ll do for God but what you’ll let Him do for you. Will you trust Him a little bit or will you trust Him the whole way? Does His grace merely get you in the front door or does it keep you safe to the very end?

As Jesus said, the only work that counts is the “work” of believing in the One He has sent (John 6:29). This is the chief takeaway of the hyper-grace gospel.

Adapted from The Hyper-Grace Gospel, pp.15-18.

No More Lonely Love Songs

Union with Christ is the number one reason why we have it better than those who lived before the cross. Back then they wrote love songs about yearning and absence. “I looked for the one my heart loves but I could not find him” (Song of Songs 3:1–2). “I opened to my beloved, but my beloved was gone” (Song of Songs 5:6) “As the deer pants for the water, so my soul pants for you, O God” (Psalms 42:1).

It breaks my heart to hear Christians singing songs of longing and calling it worship. I imagine it breaks Jesus’ heart too. Where are you Lord? I am right here. I am in you and you are in me. Where did you go? I didn’t go anywhere. I promised I would never leave you.

Here’s another timeless classic from the album, Love Songs of the Old Covenant:

One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. (Psalms 27:4a)

That you may dwell in the house of the Lord? You are the house of the Lord. You can dwell in the house of the Lord as long as you like. In fact, it’s going to be quite impossible for you to dwell anywhere else.

Where is God?

To see how well you grasp this, ask yourself a simple question: Where is God? When you think of God being some place, where is that place? Is he up there or over there or who knows where?

I suppose God can be anywhere and everywhere, but the good news declares he is in you and you are in him. Any concept of separating distance is totally demolished by this revelation. He is not far away and he is not hiding behind a cloud. How can we be sure? Because Jesus said so. “Surely I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20).

Intimacy is not something we ever need long for. (He is already with us.) We don’t have to beg God to rend the heavens and come down. (He already did.) And we never have to fear that he might abandon us as orphans. (He promised he wouldn’t.) The good news declares that now and forever more, you are in perfect union with the Lord.

For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. (Romans 6:5, KJV)

There is a word in this verse that appears nowhere else in the Bible. It is a word that excites theologians into hand-waving bursts of hyper-ventilated hermeneutics. It is the word sumphutos which is here translated as “planted together.” This is just about the strongest word for union you could possibly think of. It means being “born together with” or “of joint origin.” The closest English word is connate which means individual parts that are united to form a single whole.

Connate union

The best illustration of connate union is the one Jesus gave us—a vine and a branch, two parts that combine to make an indivisible whole. Vines and branches cannot be understood in isolation. A vine that has no branches is not much of a vine, and a branch that is not part of a vine is not a branch. It’s just a stick.

What does this connate union mean for us? It means our lives cannot be understood in isolation from Jesus. Apart from him we can do nothing. We can’t bear fruit, we can’t grow, and we can’t live. This has been humanity’s experience from the Year Dot.

The good news is we don’t need to do a thing to make this new life happen, we just need to receive it. To partake in his divine nature requires only that we live in the union that is already ours.

You may say, “But I don’t feel it. I don’t feel connected.” Don’t put your faith in feelings. Believe the One who declares, “You are a branch.” His eternal word is truer than your momentary feelings.

“But I’m struggling to produce fruit.” Stop struggling. It’s not your job to produce fruit but to bear the fruit that he produces in you.

Be the branch

He is the vine. Quit trying to be a little vine of your own. Jesus does it all. Our part is to trust him and depend on him for everything. The fact is you are in union, so live in union. Act married, because you are.

Since you have accepted Christ Jesus as Lord, live in union with him. (Colossians 2:6, GNB)

A married person who continues to act like a single person is going to miss out on many of the blessings of marriage. Similarly, a Christian who fails to draw from their union with Christ is going to miss many of the blessings of that union. New life is meant to be lived; it’s meant to be expressed and enjoyed and worked out to such a degree that unbelievers see it and marvel.

How do we bear his fruit in our lives? By not trying. Fruit grow naturally (see Mark 4:26–28). We hinder that process by trying to make things happen in our own strength and understanding. Do that and you’ll produce Ishmaels. But learn to rely on his love and trust in the Father’s pruning and you will bear his fruit effortlessly.

(Extracted from chapter 4 “Union,” The Gospel in Ten Words).

How Do We Read the Commands of the New Testament?

How should we read the commands of the New Testament? A legalist will insist we read them as commands that must be obeyed. After all, didn’t Jesus say, “If you love me, you will obey my commands?” He did, but he wasn’t preaching law-based obedience. He was saying obedience is a fruit, not a root, of a healthy, loving relationship.

Live by the law – any law – and you fall from grace. You set aside the cross and trample the Son of God underfoot.

It makes no difference whether you keep the law to be saved, sanctified, or sanctimonious. Being faithful to the law is being unfaithful to Jesus. It’s walking by sight instead of faith. It’s walking after the old way of the flesh instead of the new and living way of the Spirit.

How should we read the New Testament commands?

Think of them as “House Rules.” Perhaps you have seen those posters that say things like, “In this house we love, laugh, listen, help others, say ‘thank you,’ and that sort of thing. That’s what the New Testament writers are giving us in their letters. They are giving us the house rules for our Father’s House of Grace. They are painting a picture of the new and wonderful life that is ours to enjoy in Christ.

Just as you would not kick your children out of your home or deprive them of your fellowship if they neglected to laugh, listen, or say “thank you,” nor will God punish you for failing to keep his house rules. That’s not the way to read them. The only way you could interpret Paul’s Rules (or Peter’s, James’s, John’s, etc.) as commands to be obeyed is if you approach them with a law-keeping mindset.

This is true even when the New Testament writers quote the Ten Commandments, as Paul does here:

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise—“so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” (Eph. 6:1–3)

That wonderful promise is lifted straight out of the law. But what about the flip-side? What if we don’t honor our father and mother? What happens then?

What if we don’t keep the rules?

If you know the old covenant, you will be aware that there are serious consequences for law-breaking. But since we aren’t under that old covenant, Paul doesn’t mention them.

What the law says will happen: “Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death” (Exodus 21:17).

What Paul says will happen: “________”

Do you see? Under the law you got carrots and sticks, but under grace, it’s just carrots, and carrots that Jesus paid for.

While it is true that Jesus quoted the curse associated with this commandment in Matthew 15:4, he did so while talking to religious people and law-teachers living under the law. You are not under the law.

Jesus and Paul preached different parts of the same law to different audiences for different purposes. There’s a wonderful symmetry here. One used the law to silence the self-righteous; the other used it to illustrate a timeless truth which is that honoring your parents is always a good idea. Whether you’re under grace or law, it’s a good thing to do.

We are not righteous because we honor our parents; we honor our parents because we are righteous. It’s one of the things we do in the House of Grace.

James Finn

Want to Become a Powerful LGBTQ Ally?

Do you have friends or loved ones who identify somewhere on the LGBTQ spectrum? Are they lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual, or genderqueer? Do you ever think about how marginalized people sometimes have to fight to breathe through a toxic fog of othering?

Maybe you’re marginalized too? Are you Black, Latinx, or disabled? Have you thought about how marginalized identities intersect? About how Black transgender women, for example, get hit from all sides? Think about how racism, sexism and transphobia focus in one spot against one person at the same time.

Advocating for justice and inclusion often means forming alliances based on recognition of shared oppression, probably an obvious thing to say, but possibly less obvious in practice.

Let’s stick to the basics

She’s asked me to provide a list of resources allies can use to help fight for LGBTQ justice and inclusion. I’ve thought hard over the last couple of days about the best approach, and I’ve decided to stick to the basics. Rather than an exhaustive list, I’m offering a starter kit for people who want to become part of the solution.

I’m pretty sure that once you get started, your own efforts will direct you to the specific resources that fit your personal priorities.

How can you become part of the solution?

Solutions imply problems, problems lots of people don’t know exist. Given the paucity of LGBTQ representation in entertainment, people can get the wrong idea, as

We LGBTQ people want our stories to be real, relatable, and not inevitably tragic, but we know our allies don’t always understand that the positive stories they see in entertainment aren’t the FULL story.

So what can you do?

1. Educate yourself and raise your awareness

Paralleling the relatively scarce treatment of LGBTQ issues in entertainment, hard news treatment is pretty sketchy too. Cable news rarely tackles LGBTQ stories, and when they do they’re seldom complete. Newspapers and magazines sometimes feature stories, but you can’t rely on them for daily news. Kudos to the Huffington Post for having a queer beat, but you’ll only see it if you seek it out.

So why not be proactive?

If you want to be a powerful LGBTQ ally, make LGBTQ issues a regular part of your day. Take just a few minutes each day to scan queer Huffington Post or LGBTQ Nation or Pink News, which aggregate journalism about LGBTQ people and issues around the world.

2. Help LGBTQ youth. They’re hurting.

Dan Foster

I Thought Jesus Was the Savior of the World. Now, I Stand Corrected.

When radical patriotism meets Christianity

I want to start by giving a shout-out to the reader who inspired this post.

It all started when I wrote an article called “God Bless the American Bible,” which was intended to be a satirical advertisement for the “God Bless the USA” Bible.

The “God Bless the USA” Bible combines the holy scriptures with the founding documents of the USA — like The Pledge of Allegiance, The US Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, and The Bill of Rights — in one leather-bound book, with the US flag proudly emblazoned across the front cover.

No, this is not a joke. This Bible is actually being released in September this year — to commemorate the 20th anniversary of September 11 — assuming they can find a publisher willing to take the project on.

As I gently poked fun at the ‘Christians’ behind this Biblical brainwave, I thought to myself, “Surely there aren’t real human beings who believe that the US Constitution — for all its apparent inspiredness — actually belongs inside a book alongside the supposed word of God. Who in their right mind would purchase such a Bible?”

And then I met one…

I didn’t have to wait too long to find the answer. The day after I published my post, I was trawling through the comments that people had left.

I make a habit of trying my best to respond positively to all of those who take the time to leave a comment — even those who aren’t particularly kind or reasonable.

Sure enough, I found a section of my article highlighted by one of my readers. The section read: “I find any suggestion that God favors one nation or people or group over another completely repulsive.”

Reasonable enough, right?

However, there attached was a comment that left me truly lost for words — a quandary not usually suffered by writers like me. I shared the comment with a few friends, who all arrived at the same conclusion: “He can’t be serious, can he?”

But I think he is.

And that is why I simply have to write about this. However, before I explain why, I’ll let you have a read of the offending comment for yourself:

Source: “God Bless the America Bible” by Dan Foster

I thought Jesus was the savior of the world. Now, I stand corrected. It seems that, regretfully, all these years, I have believed a false Gospel. My bad.

Now I know better.

It turns out that, according to my reader, America, rather than Jesus, is the savior of the world.

Patriotism meets Christianity

You’re probably picking up the sarcasm in my tone. I’m not impressed. In fact, I am angry.

Why?

Well, in just a few short lines of text, my well-meaning but ultimately over-zealous ‘Christian’ brother manages to mix radical American patriotism with orthodox Christian faith in a potent cocktail of pure idolatry masquerading as something noble.

In reality, these few comments betray a troubling truth. In the worldview of this individual — one who calls himself a Christian — America rather than Jesus is the center of his attention. Instead of Jesus being the light of the world and the hope for humanity, America is has become the Messianic force in the world.

Yes, America.

This post is nothing more than Christian nationalism on steroids. Christian nationalism — like almost every word of this man’s post — is purely and simply not Christian at all. Let me explain why:

It supposes that our nation is God’s nation

The Bible doesn’t say, “God Bless America,” but it does say, “For God so loved the world.” Therefore, any suggestion that God somehow favors one nation over another is completely anti-Biblical.

My reader correctly points out that God did choose the Jews in the Old Testament. But what exactly were they chosen for? They were not selected by God to gloat because they were “God’s people,” nor to hoard the blessings of God for themselves.

Rather, they were chosen to be the vehicle by which God’s plan for his all-inclusive love to reach the far corners of the earth to people of every tribe, tongue, and nation. God always intended this thing to go global, and he had to start somewhere.

It started with the Jews. It’s now available to everyone — including Americans — but also to no one exclusively. Nobody owns God.

But my reader basically says, “God chose the Jews but they rejected God, and so God has ditched the Jews in favor of America instead.” So suddenly, we have a situation where the ‘Christian story’ is intertwined with the ‘American story,’ and they become one.

Yes, the official motto of the USA is “In God We Trust.” People often use that as an argument to say, “We were founded as a nation with divine guidance,” — as my reader did — but the U.S. Congress only adopted this motto in 1956. So it’s a fairly recent development.

I’m sure that the guiding principles of Christianity had a role in the formation of the USA. However, Christian nationalism believes that the American nation is defined by Christianity — rather than being an element in its formation — and that the government should take active steps to keep it that way.

“America was, is and must remain a Christian nation,” the Christian nationalist asserts. But, of course, this way of thinking sets a prescriptive program for what America must continue to be in the future.

It supposes that our people are God’s people

When my reader says, “America does hold a special place in the eye of God,” what he really means is that “Certain Americans hold a special place in the eyes of God.”

That’s because when you argue that your nation was and always will be a Christian nation, it causes you to draw lines in the sand about who is and who is not part of that nation.

In reality, many groups of people cannot or will not conform to the religious and cultural template that our “Christian nation” imposes. People of different races, faiths, cultures, genders and sexual preferences don’t fit under a Christian nationalist regime. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons that scholars almost unanimously agree that nationalist governments tend to become authoritarian and oppressive in practice.

The idea that one group enjoys the favor of God more than another is really the spirit behind colonialism, racism, sexism, elitism, homophobia, Islamophobia, and any other kind of prejudice you’d care to name. It is only when you believe that all people are God’s people that you can truly embrace all people in the same way God does.

It supposes that our victories are God’s victories

“Do you think it was just luck that a poorly organized militia was able to defeat the Royal British Empire?” Asks my reader in his comment.

What is he really saying?

Well, of course, he is saying that God intervened and miraculously delivered them from their enemies. In fact, whenever we go to war, God is on our side!

And if God is on our side, then God is not on the side of the other guys. They are our enemies and, therefore, they are God’s enemies, and so it’s our God-given mandate to act on behalf of God to destroy them. That being the case, we can justify all of our military actions as the divine will of God — and we need never be held to account.

Have we found those weapons of mass destruction that the Bush administration used to justify the invasion of Iraq in 2003? Or was it because of our “War on Terror” following the attacks on September 11, despite those attacks being found to have no connection to Iraq? It certainly couldn’t have been because certain parties had oil interests to protect in the Middle East, right?

Either way, God is on our side! It’s our job to crush the baddies!

Oh, and one more thing… do you think that it was just luck that a poorly organized militia was able to defeat the might of the USA army in Vietnam?

It supposes that our way is God’s way

When you suppose that your way is God’s way, then you must do what you can to impose that ‘way’ on the rest of the world.

Manifest Destiny, a phrase coined in 1845, is the idea that the United States is destined — by God, its advocates believed — to expand its dominion and spread democracy and capitalism across the entire North American continent and beyond. To hell with the natives!

“We are that shining city on the hill.”

Take a moment to appreciate the self-congratulatory tone of this comment. It says, “America has all the answers! The rest of the world should look at us and follow our example! See what a nation looks like when it enjoys the unbridled favor of God!”

Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure that America has much to offer the rest of the world by way of example. But, I’m also sure that the rest of the world has much to offer America.

When Christianity meets American exceptionalism, you end up with some truly repugnant attitudes — ones that say, “We have the truth. You don’t have the truth. You need what we have. You are lost. We are saved. You are walking around in the dark. We are enlightened. You need to learn from us. You have nothing of value to say to me, but what we have to say to you is of infinite value. My way of living and believing is the one true and correct one, and I will not be told otherwise.”

No wonder American Christianity is ‘on the nose.’

It supposes that our truth is God’s truth

As a glorious benediction to his comment, my reader declares with a full prophetic voice, “America is destined to be the savior of the free world!”

Again, I thought that was Jesus’s job. Silly me.

I also wonder what he means when he says the “free world?” Does he mean “free world” like it was meant when the phrase was originally coined as a propaganda term in World War 2 to refer to America and her allies?

If so, what about the rest of the world? Is an alliance with the USA synonymous with the favor of God? Are other nations not free because they follow a different way, or believe different things, or chose to align with a different way of living and being?

The Christian nationalist says, “Yes, and it’s our God-given job to show them that!”

Compare that attitude to the words of Jesus Christ when he set before the world his own mission statement at the beginning of his ministry in Luke 4:18–19:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me.
He has chosen me to tell the good news to the poor.
He sent me to tell prisoners that they are free
and to tell the blind that they can see again.
He sent me to free those who have been treated badly and to announce that the time has come for the Lord to show his kindness.”

One is a humble position; the other is an arrogant position.

Dear American Christian,

I recognize that many of my readers are from the land of the free and the home of the brave, and I do not wish to insult or disenfranchise any of them. They are good and decent people who live in an amazing country — of this I have no doubt.

However, on behalf of everyone else who is not from the United States of America, I very humbly wish to suggest that America does not possess exclusivity when it comes to the blessing and favor of God. And there are ways of following Christ, other than the ‘American way.’

As US Christian author Shane Claiborne says, “American nationalism is its own civil religion, where America rather than Jesus is the center of attention. Like any religion, it has its own liturgy, saints, and holidays. It has its own religious symbols— the eagle, the flag, the red, white and blue. It has its own creeds— ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident…” It has its own ‘worship’ songs — like ‘God Bless the USA’ and ‘I’m Proud to be an American,’ both by Lee Greenwood. It even has its own theology — manifest destiny, the doctrine of discovery, and American exceptionalism.”

There is nothing wrong with being patriotic. However, when we mix our patriotism with our faith, we enter dangerous territory.

Forget Church and State, Let’s Separate Church and God

God left the Church ages ago, anyway!

I was brought up in the Evangelical tradition to believe that Church attendance and being a Christian were synonymous. I could not imagine a scenario where anyone could truly call themselves a Christian and not regularly attend a church. And where I knew of people who did, I presumed that they were self-deceived. If people didn’t show up to Church, it was presumed that they were falling away from the Lord, and we would fervently pray that they would see the light and return to the safety of the flock.

There is no way you can be a Christian and not go to church!

Or so I thought.

Fast forward three decades, and I am now part of a growing cohort of Christians who have forsaken the institutionalized church without forsaking their belief in God. (My former self would be horrified!)

According to Barna — a Christian research organization — those who “love Jesus but not the church” now account for around 10% of the US population. Despite leaving the church, this group has maintained a robustly orthodox view of God. According to Barna, without exception, their beliefs about God are more orthodox than the general population, even rivaling their church-going counterparts.

Their faith consists of a mostly full acceptance of the fundamentals of the Christian faith, combined with a full rejection of the church. Now that makes for an interesting combination! And, it begs the question, “Why?” Why have these people walked away from Church without walking away from Christianity?

Another survey of over 4000 people conducted by Pew Research sheds some light on this phenomenon. Pew asked survey participants to state the reasons why they either do or do not attend religious services. The top reason respondents gave for not attending church was that “they practice their faith in other ways.”

This is something that, as a young Evangelical, I would have thought impossible. Now, I find it hardly surprising. In fact, I have arrived at the position that the church does not have a monopoly on the practice of Christian faith, and, in fact, it never did.

I have sat through innumerable church services where you would have to conclude that most people are… well… bored if you were to look around. I grew tired of these soulless meetings when the kind of faith I was really longing for was something much more vibrant and alive. It was almost as if, in a spiritual sense, the lights were on, but nobody was home. “Is God even here?” I would ponder.

Maybe he isn’t.

When God first left the Church

If God weren’t in church this Sunday, it wouldn’t be the first time. There is a part of the crucifixion story that is often overlooked. As Jesus breathed his final breath, the Bible records that a strange event occurred in the temple in Jerusalem, simultaneously:

Matthew 27:50–51

“And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split.”

There are many things about the crucifixion story that are both interesting and compelling, but the tearing of the temple curtain was, perhaps, the most significant moment of that fateful day. Let me explain why.

The temple curtain was hung to demarcate the inner sanctum— where it was believed that the very presence of God dwelt — from common people. Its sole purpose was to keep God separate from the people, and the people separate from God. God was far too holy to be in the presence of ordinary people, and ordinary people far too sinful to be in the presence of God.

And so, the lengths people went to to keep God separate cannot be understated. This was not some flimsy curtain like the $3.99 ones you can buy at Walmart to hang in your shower. This was the mother of all curtains. The Bible records it as being 30 feet wide, 60 feet long, and requiring some 300 men to carry it in and hang it in place. It was not the kind of curtain that you could accidentally rip in passing.

What is more, nobody ever went behind the curtain apart from the High Priest and, even then, only once a year to make sacrifices on behalf of the people of God for the forgiveness of sin. Moreover, the temple priest who ventured into this sacred space would have a rope tied around his ankle apparently — just in case he was struck dead when he encountered the presence of God.

And yet, at the moment of Jesus’s death, the temple curtain rips, without the help of human hands, from top-to-bottom, exposing the world to all that lay behind its protective linen wall.

What does it mean?

This was the moment that the very presence of God broke out from its darkened corner of the earth — behind a wall that man had built. God didn’t live in the temple anymore! Like a roaring lion escaping from his enclosure at the zoo, God was suddenly on the loose! He had escaped from the building!

The symbolism is both powerful and clear. People now have unrestricted access to God. From that moment on, God could be approached by anyone, anywhere at any time — inside the church or outside the church. But, there was no longer a need for a priest to mediate, a wall to separate, and a sacrifice to appease. God could be approached freely!

How wonderful!

And how terrible for the workers of the temple — the priest and teachers of the law — who suddenly found themselves out of work. “If God doesn’t need a building, then what are we to do?” they bemoaned!

Sewing up the Curtain

So, you can imagine some horrified priest walking into the temple that day and, upon finding the curtain torn in two, getting out his sewing kit and furiously stitching it back together — if that were even possible.

It might seem comical to imagine, but the reality is that the past two thousand years of church history have demonstrated time and time again that those who oversee the temple of God have, in a metaphorical sense, tried their darndest to put God back behind the veil.

To be fair, many church leaders don’t go about intentionally hanging ‘curtains’ that inhibit people from seeing an approaching God. It just kind of happens — as if it were human nature to construct barriers and lines to demarcate systems of belonging that define who is “in” and “out.” It kind of makes us feel special — like we are the people of God — and well others… they are poor lost souls who need our help. And that keeps preachers employed!

Call me cynical, but I don’t believe God went to all the trouble of sending his only son into the world to die for the purpose of tearing down the walls between humanity and the divine, only to have humanity build more walls. We ought to call these walls out for what they are: Man-made barriers that make difficult the easy access that God has ordained for us. Let’s take a look at some of the “temple curtains” that get in the way!

The barrier of performance-based religion

The barrier of performance-based religions says, “You can only come to God if you perform to a certain standard.”

The church loves to define who is “in” and who is “out” by an often unspoken set of behavioral expectations that include things like church attendance, not drinking or cursing too much, putting money in the offering plate, generally being a nice person, and not sinning too much (at least in public).

Performance-based religion demands that you pull yourself together and achieve a certain level of “goodness” before you can have access to God — requiring us to strive for that which Christ has already given freely — his favor, his presence, his love.

The barrier of semantics

The barrier of semantics says, “You can only come to God if you use the correct words.”

When I was a teenager, I was taught that to become a Christian required me to pray a certain set of words — more commonly known as “The Sinner’s Prayer.” In it, I had to apologize for my sin, ask for forgiveness and then ask Jesus into my heart to be my personal Lord and savior.

Even though there is no such prayer in the Bible, it was implied that as long as I said these words, hey presto! I was suddenly a Christian! Transformation and growth were optional from that point because I had said the magic incantation. I realize now just how silly this kind of prayer was.

Christians really do get hung up on words. If you want to make a Christian upset, then use the wrong words. If you don’t believe me, check out the story of Catholic Priest Father Matthew Hood:

It all started in August 2020 when Father Hood, associate pastor of St. Lawrence Parish in Utica, was innocently watching a video of his own baptism from way back in the nineties and discovered, much to his horror, that instead of using the Catholic church’s ancient liturgical formula — “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” — the presiding priest unforgivably uttered, “We baptize you….”

Apparently, this innocuous slip-of-the-tongue was enough to rend Father Hood’s baptism invalid. Not only that, because the sacraments of confirmation and holy orders can only be conferred upon validly baptized Catholics, Father Hood was “devastated” to learn that not only was he not baptized or confirmed, but he also was not a validly-ordained priest. Therefore, the many others that Father Hood has gone on to baptize may have also received an invalid baptism, unleashing a chain of would-be Catholics who don’t even realize that God doesn’t recognize their baptism… apparently.

Curtains! Curtains!

Do you think God is really concerned over one little word? Or, since he is God, does he know what we mean anyway? Maybe, our words are actually immaterial. Maybe God looks straight at the heart.

I have a friend who described to me that little voice inside that seems to guide him in the way he should go. He calls it “an awareness.” Others might call it “consciousness” or even “conscience.” I might call it The Holy Spirit. But in the end, it’s just words.

And if the heart is right, but the words are wrong, I don’t think that God cares so much! It’s just another curtain to be torn in two!

The barrier of sexuality

The barrier of sexuality says, “You can only come to God if you live and promote a heteronormative existence.”

Back in 2008, the Barna Group surveyed 16–29 year-olds, asking non-Christians about their perception of Christians. The study explored twenty specific images related to Christianity, including ten favorable and ten unfavorable perceptions. Among young non-Christians, nine out of the top ten perceptions were negative. For example, 87% of those surveyed said Christians were judgmental, 85% said Christians were hypocritical, and 78% said Christians were out-of-touch.

Above all, Barna discovered that the most common perception of Christians among non-believers was that Christians were anti-gay, with 91% of non-Christians saying they believe that Christians showed excessive contempt and unloving attitudes towards homosexuals, and made homosexuality a bigger sin than anything else.

That was 13 years ago, and even though I am assured by many of my church-going friends that Christian churches are much more accepting of members of the LGBTIQ+ community, I have my doubts. Many churches these days may say, “We welcome members of the LGBTIQ+ community,” but when you get down to the details, you’ll find that they aren’t welcome to participate fully in the life of the church (in leadership positions, for example), and are treated as objects of suspicion and scorn, if not overtly, then just beneath a thin veneer of forced niceness and fake smiles.

In reality, if you really want to be allowed ‘behind the veil,’ you must promote and maintain a heteronormative position, even if it means faking it and suppressing who you really are.

The barrier of normalization

The barrier of normalization says, “You can only come to God if your life reflects normal, traditional, evangelical patterns and beliefs.”

This goes hand in glove with the previous point but is not only limited to matters of human sexuality. There seems to be a bunch of other social norms that “set Christians apart” from ordinary people.

For example, many Christian churches ascribe to a form of “benevolent patriarchy” commonly known as Complementarianism. This belief gives men authority over the wife and children and only allows men to be church leaders. Women are expected to submit unilaterally to men, fathers, husbands, pastors. While many churches who hold to this view do encourage men to sacrificially lead their wives, there is still a power differentiation where men are given the final say.

It is not uncommon in church circles for women to be discouraged from pursuing a career but rather committing themselves to the roles of wife and mother. You might call that sexist or misogynistic. However, some in the church would call it “normal.”

The barrier of blind faith

The barrier of blind faith says, “You can only come to God if you don’t question any of the fundamentals of the faith.”

Belief, in any system, is a social exercise. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Church. If you want to fit in, there are a bunch of so-called, not-negotiable “truths” that you must ascribe to — many of which require you to shelve your intellect and wander into the world of blind faith.

You will quickly find yourself frozen out if you begin to question certain things like Scripture’s inerrancy, for example. Don’t talk too loudly about how you support gay marriage. And mention that you do not believe in a literal seven-day creation narrative at your own peril. Anyone on the liberal end of the spectrum is treated as an object of suspicion.

When it comes to free-thinking, there is very little room to move in the evangelical church. People who hold to views that deviate from what is considered orthodox are most certainly shamed — both behind their backs on the gossip circuit and from the pulpit when the alarmed Pastor seeks to correct your wicked heresy before it takes root and leads others astray.

You can sense the concern in your well-meaning Christian friends when you express your doubts and difficult questions. Most of us care so much about belonging that we suppress and bury these uneasy feelings for the sake of fitting in. After all, we have seen what happens to people who refuse to conform: They always end up on the outside of the curtain.

The barrier of culture

The barrier of culture says, “You can only come to God if you adopt the values of white, western democracy.”

At some point in human history, certain people in positions of power mistakenly and disastrously came to believe that the goal of Christianity was the same as the goal of colonialism. As a result, a marriage occurred between Western democracy and Christianity, and there followed a determination to share (by force if necessary) the “blessings” of the apparently Christ-inspired civilization of the West with those more primitive cultures still under the oppression of Satan.

Sure, we may have moved on from hardcore colonialism, but its stench still lingers in the air around Western Christianity.

The barrier of politics

The barrier of politics says, “You can only come to God if you adopt and maintain a certain political position.”

This one has really come to the fore under the trainwreck that was the Trump presidency. It was a well-established fact that white, evangelical protestant Christians overwhelmingly supported Donald Trump and his presidency to the point where “Evangelical Christian” became a kind of synonym for “Trump Supporter.”

In my home country, Australia, I believe that the more progressive political parties often have ideas more aligned with the compassion and grace that Christianity is supposed to espouse, particularly in matters pertaining to welfare, foreign aid, equality, asylum seekers, and the environment. Yet, it is kind of an unwritten rule that Christians should vote for the conservatives.

Yes, I have had friends walk away from the church because they can’t reconcile why the church supports political parties that want to build economic wealth while turning away the refugee and oppressing the minority.

Time to separate Church and God

Some militantly argue for the separation of Church and state. Fair enough, too! I say we go one step further and separate Church and God.

God is not the church. The church is not God. In fact, the church has done such an incredible job of misrepresenting God in so many ways that I think the separation of Church and God could even lead to a renaissance in Christian belief and — ironically — help the Christian cause.

Why?

Because God tore the veil and made himself freely available to all. He proved once and for all time that he cannot be contained by walls or steepled roofs or held back by the liver-spotted hands of the so-called gate-keepers of the faith. He does not represent one political position, race, culture, or group more than any other.

You will no more find God in the church than you will in the gentle breeze as it caresses your face or the setting sun as it bathes the fields in gold, or the first mouthful of a delicious meal, or the laughter of delighted children, or the warm embrace of the one you love.

No!

God left the church a long time ago and found his new temple inside the hearts of the humble and earnestly-seeking — regardless of their age, race, culture, gender, sexual preference, status, or class — and he goes with them wherever they are.

Do I Follow Jesus or Stick With the Church?

The dilemma facing every believer

A man stranded by himself on an island was finally discovered. His rescuers asked him about the three huts that they saw there. He pointed to the first hut and said, “This hut is my home.” Then he pointed to the second hut and said, “And this one is my church.”

“And what about the third hut?” asked his rescuers. “The third hut,” said the man, “That is my former church.”

Have you ever become disillusioned with the church that you considered leaving it altogether? Chances are, you’re not alone. According to research by Gallup, the past 20 years have seen an acceleration in the drop-off in church membership in the USA, with a 20-percentage-point decline since 1999.

Despite the precipitous decline in church attendance, belief in God remains high. Another Gallup poll from 2017 asked the question, “Do you believe in God.” 87% responded in the affirmative. It is a baffling statistical anomaly that so many believe in God, but less and less attend church.

When I talk about the church in this article, I’m talking about the institution. I’m talking about Sunday services and pews and sermons and potluck suppers and, of course, the physical building in which it all takes place.

As a child growing up in the evangelical church system, I was taught that being a Christian and going to church were synonymous. You could not have one without the other. If an individual failed to attend church for several weeks, the presumption was made that they were backsliding into un-belief. Efforts were made to win them back: Visitations, intervention, and lots of fervent praying.

The idea that someone could have a vibrant faith in Christ and not be part of the Church was virtually non-existent in my world. But it is really the case that walking away from the church akin to walking away from your faith?

I don’t think so.

In fact, the opposite may be true. Walking away from the institutionalized church may be the very thing that brings your faith back to life. In fact, when I left the church, I honestly felt that I was being obedient to Christ. Let me explain a few reasons why:

God wanted to show me that he can be found anywhere

The church likes to draw a line between the secular and the sacred, but I discovered something wonderful when I left the church behind. God can be found almost everywhere. There is a little verse in the book of Ephesians which declares that God is over all and through all and in all. Now that I have de-cluttered my spiritual life, this has become my daily reality.

God is in the gentle breeze as it caresses my face, the sun as it warms my skin, the laughter of my children, the first mouthful of a delicious meal, the stories that people tell, the music that I listen to — even the secular music. The church does not have a monopoly on the sacred. The sacred is all around us and able to be freely accessed by all. Walls cannot contain it.

God wanted me to learn that he can speak through anything and anyone

In the Bible, God spoke to people in many ways. He spoke through the wind, a burning bush, and even a talking donkey. Now, if God can use a donkey to deliver his words, I don’t understand why anything or anyone else cannot speak divine truth into your life. At what point did we decide that a person needs a Bachelor of Theology or a Masters of Divinity to deliver divine words of wisdom? Any old ass can do it.

If you listen really closely, you will find the truth speaking to you through many things and many people. Not only do Christians not have a monopoly on the sacred, they also do not have a monopoly on the truth.

God wanted me to take responsibility for my own spiritual growth

Often in churches, we defer to the pastor, priest, or minister to do our spiritual homework for us. We rely on them to read, interpret and deliver the word of God to us in a form that is both palatable and entertaining each week. They do this with varying degrees of success. Preaching became like the Uber-Eats of the Christian faith.

However, Christ came to be the one and only mediator between God and us, enabling us to have complete, unfettered access to the divine. Perhaps we were uncomfortable with this level of freedom, and so we reduced the access the general population had to God by appointing men (yes, usually men) as intermediaries between us and God once more. We go to them for a word, a prayer, spiritual guidance, and advice, neglecting the fact that Holy Spirit is given indiscriminately to all who ask. We outsourced our faith. How ironic.

Don’t get me wrong; there is a place for spiritual leadership, but not at the expense of personal responsibility for one’s own faith. When you walk away from the church, you are forced to engage with the Bible and, indeed, Christ for yourself.

God wanted me to develop deep friendships

Authentic relationships don’t happen in crowds. Churches often like to label themselves as being “like family.” To be fair, it certainly can feel like family at times. However, I discovered when I finally left that many of your “brothers and sisters” never speak to you again. Some of them don’t even notice you’re gone. I’m not suggesting that there is malicious intent behind this — although I wouldn’t rule it out either — but it does show that, in reality, most of the relationships we have with church people are friendships of convenience. You are not really friends because of some unbreakable spiritual bond, but more likely because you happen to go to the same building at the same time each week.

It highlights a truth to me. Authentic relationships don’t happen in crowds. Many churches, to their credit, try to run small group networks as part of their ministries, but many people slip through the cracks. It is possible to attend a large church for a long time and never form any meaningful relationships. However, I want to be part of a community where your absence is noticed. These days I still gather with other believers — in much smaller groups — where authentic relationships are impossible to avoid. It is my new church.

God wanted me to see him in everyone

The church loves to define who is “in” and who is “out,” usually by an often unspoken set of behavioral expectations that include things like church attendance, not drinking or cursing too much, putting money in the offering plate, and generally being a nice person. I call this “performance-based religion.” Real transformation is an optional extra, but as long as you exhibit the right behaviors, you’re assumed to be “growing in your faith,” by default anyway.

When you walk away from the church and start making friends with people who are not part of the ‘in-crowd,’ you discover something wonderful. You learn that there is inherent value and beauty in people who are not part of the ‘in-crowd.’ You discover that you can learn from them as well. You see the image of God imprinted on the life of every human being, not just the elect. In fact, you learn that non-Christians are just a nice as Christians and, in many cases, nicer.

I’ve become friends with people who I might not have otherwise associated with — people of other faiths and people from the LGBTIQ+ community, for example — and they are all lovely people. It’s ironic that even though Christ was happy to be seen with the marginalized, Christians like to stick to their own kind.

God wanted me to rest

Sabbath is a God-ordained day of rest. It is one of God’s best commands! Take a day off! Have a rest! Put your feet up!

It is ironic then that Christians went and filled it with so much religious activity that it became downright exhausting. The effort required to drag myself out of bed on a Sunday morning, put on a brave face, and try to get three reluctant children ready for a church service that were mildly opposed to attending anyway was disproportionate the potential reward.

On the other hand, sleeping in on Sunday mornings is good for the soul. Going out for a picnic as a family is unifying and edifying. Catching up with friends for a drink in the afternoon is a glorious conclusion to a fabulous day of rest.

Rest is spiritual, and I’m loving having my Sabbath back.

God wanted to free me from the baggage

I felt so guilty when a friend at work asked me if I went to church, and I said, “No!” Even though this is the truth now, my whole life, I was told this was akin to denying your faith — kind of like Peter denying Jesus before the rooster crowed.

However, many people carry unhelpful preconceived ideas about church-going people — a lot of them unhelpful. Bible bashers, flat earthers, Trump-supporters, hypocrites, homophobic, judgmental — I could go on. A lot of these labels are self-inflicted and probably deserved. However, there are plenty of church-going people for whom these labels are manifestly unfair. Still, labels stick.

When you do not go to church, you are free from the stigma of these labels. In fact, people are fascinated by the idea that you could be a believer and not go to church. When you tell people the reasons why you left the church, along with the reasons why you won’t leave the faith, it is a powerful combination. This leads me to my next point.

God wanted me to heal

I don’t think the church did it on purpose, but I am deeply wounded by my long association with the institutionalized church. I know I am not the only one. All those years of struggling and striving to somehow evoke the blessing of God over my life by behaving and performing in particular ways took its toll on me: The decades of putting on a brave face, a forced smile, and a thin veneer and niceness, to mask the brokenness inside. I wanted to believe in a God who indiscriminately loves me and accepts me for who I am, but the underlying message of the church seemed to be, “You are a wicked sinner, and you need to get better.”

Now that I am free from the burden of performance-based religion, I am learning to embrace a far greater truth. I am a beloved child of God — no strings attached. I do not require my own children to perform to me. I would rather them come to me in honesty. When they stuff up, I am angry for the briefest of moments. Then the anger is swallowed up in my love for them. I am only human, yet loving my children is mostly effortless. How much more so for God?

If not Church, then what?

If you walk away from the traditional church system, then what? Well, you still ought to meet with other believers in some capacity. I don’t want you to misunderstand me. I am not saying, “Go and do Christianity all by yourself.” In fact, the Bible assumes that all Christians will be part of some kind of faith community. Christianity has always been and always will be a communal religion.

There’s a good reason for this. Without a connection to a faith community, you cannot fully know God.

C.S. Lewis, in his book The Four Loves, explains why: Imagine that I had a friend. Let’s call him Tim. Me and Tim are good friends, close friends, and we know a lot about each other, but what C.S. Lewis says is that I, myself, am not big enough to call any person into complete activity — I myself cannot, by myself, see the whole Tim.

So when another friend comes into the picture, let’s pick another hypothetical person, say Mike. When Mike interacts with Tim, and I get to see Tim’s reaction to that, it unlocks a part of Tim that I never knew about. And let’s say that Tim has a hypothetical girlfriend — let’s call her, I dunno, Annie. And it’s only when Annie comes into the picture that me and Mike get to see this loving, caring part of Tim that we might not have known existed otherwise.

You see, it takes a community to know an individual. Only a group brings out the whole person. And if that’s true of humans, how much more true is it of God. You cannot know God by yourself — you can only know a little piece of God by yourself. Therefore, the more we engage in a Christian community and get to know the individuals who make up that community — with their unique personalities, talents, and spiritual gifts, and the multitude of ways they honor and glorify God — the more I get to know of God myself.

You see, you cannot fully know God on your own. For this reason, I will always be a part of a faith community of some description and encourage others to do the same. But as for the institution, I think I’m done with that. If you want to know more about the reasons why feel free to have a read of this.

For me, sticking with Jesus meant leaving the institutionalized church. In fact, I followed Jesus out the door.

What would Jesus do?

Jesus didn’t go to church. Think about that for a minute.

Jesus grew up Jewish, so he would have gone to the synagogue with his family and participated in all the Jewish rituals of his day because that was the way that they would have worshiped.

Church, in the sense that we understand it, was still hundreds of years away. In fact, you have to wonder if the church, as we have it today, is what Jesus had in mind. Jesus is only recording using the word “Church” twice in his entire ministry — both times, he said it to refer to his community. He sure wasn’t talking about an event or a building.

If a reincarnated Jesus came to Earth today and showed up in the USA, would he attend a traditional Sunday morning church?

Or would Jesus gather with a small group of friends and break bread together in an upper room, then take a walk in the garden?

It’s an important question, don’t you think? After all, if you believe that Jesus wouldn’t attend a traditional Sunday morning church — except maybe to flip some tables and whip some people into shape — then why should you or I?

freebelievers

From the ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ section of The Free Believers Network

Isn’t separating yourself from the institutional church a violation of Hebrews 10:25 where it talks about, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together…”?

This verse has become, the “prison guard” at the door of almost every church in America. We believe that the writer of Hebrews was simply cautioning the people to not live a life of seclusion. Jesus told us that, “Where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18:20). The canvas of how, when and where that “coming together” must take place has been left totally blank. I have found that a thirty-minute meeting with a few friends at the local Starbucks produces more authentic fellowship than almost four consecutive weeks of attending a local church service. If you have two or three Christian friends in your life that you spend time with regularly, you are following the advice of Hebrews 18:20.

Ironically, the very Bible verse that is used by the institutional church to discourage people from leaving is actually the perfect Scriptural evidence as to why we should consider leaving. In most organized churches, fellowship was done away with years ago. Today we are lucky if we get more than five minutes of conversation with anyone before and after service. Sadly we have come to believe that just being in the same room with other Christians provides us with an unseen spiritual benefit of some sort. The heart of this Scripture is not fulfilled in the act of sitting together in a room for two hours, but rather in intimacy and relationship with other believers. This can and should take place daily in our lives with people the Holy Spirit has closely linked us with.

David Fredrickson

What is Your Foundation?

What if you came to the conclusion that the Bible is unreliable? How would such knowledge impact your relationship with God? The way you answer that question may identify the foundation of your faith. Although most Christians would agree that Jesus is their foundation, the faith of many has suffered when they’ve been confronted with questions they couldn’t answer regarding the authenticity of the scriptures.

For some who are not theologians, discovering that parts of the scripture have been mistranslated can be unsettling. Inaccurate translation has also led to harmful practices, especially in the area of church leadership. But perhaps the most disturbing consideration for one whose faith is based on the Bible being holy, inerrant and complete in its revelation would involve the process by which it was compiled.

There was disagreement and varied opinions among those who made up the group that determined canonization. When the final vote was cast it appears doubtful that the result was suitable for a book in which every word is thought to be God breathed. For instance, from the birth of the Church to 397AD, the church at Antioch accepted and used The Didache and 1st Clement as “scripture” while rejecting 2 Peter, 2 & 3 John, Jude, and Revelation. At Alexandria, the church also rejected most of those books, but accepted Jude and Barnabus. When the canon was finally settled, a number of books that the first century fathers and apostles considered scripture were excluded by the Protestant Bible we use today.

Much more could be said about the learning curve the apostles were in when they penned their various contributions to the New Testament. Apparent contradictions in scripture and uncertainty about who actually wrote several of the gospels can also be included on a long list of challenges to the authenticity of the scriptures.

Yet even if one is convinced that the final result that produced the Protestant Bible was orchestrated by the Holy Spirit, there’s the matter of correct doctrine. How is one to know what to believe when there are two to four conflicting views of every major doctrine among evangelicals? Furthermore, supporting scriptures and logical argument allow for a strong case to be made for each one!

One of the first songs I was taught as a child in Sunday school went like this:

The B-I-B-L-E,

Yes that’s the book for me!

I stand alone on the Word of God,

The B-I-B-L-E!

Of course nowhere in scripture is it written that we stand on the Bible. But for the average Christian raised up in a religion with Protestant Reformation theology at its roots, the little ditty makes an appropriate theme song. It also serves as a disastrous foundation.

Jesus scolded the Pharisees for diligently searching the scriptures thinking that in them they would have eternal life. He went on to say that the scriptures testified of him, yet they refused to come to him to have life. (John 5:39,40) So Jesus spoke in parables to them. He would not be misrepresented by would-be followers of those who lived by their own understanding and wisdom. It’s the same today.

The Bible has no life in and of itself. It is not a holy book. It is a book that points to Christ who is the fulfillment of the scriptures for all those who receive him by faith. If the Bible contains all the answers and can be perfectly understood by our intellect, we need neither faith nor the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the living word, and the scriptures have value for life in him ONLY as they are made alive by the Spirit of Christ within us. They are interpreted through the filter of God’s love and translated into practical living through our relationship with Christ and one another as we offer ourselves a living sacrifice on a daily basis. Being joined with others whose primary motivation is to please God will help to keep us in the way of love and avoid “private” interpretations of scripture.

What then, does it matter if parts of the Bible are mistranslated, left out or if books by spurious authors were included? It’s only that which reveals God in Christ by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that gives life. Yet theologians continue to search the scriptures finding themes that support their particular prejudices. They pour over an imperfect book looking for answers that are not there, that can only be lived out in an experimental relationship with Christ. Some of the greatest minds still live in Sunday school. They stand alone on the Bible while Jesus walks on.

Jesus is the Solid Rock on which we stand. Our faith rests on Christ alone who is the full revelation of God the Father. We are not slaves to our limited knowledge, nor must everything that the Holy Spirit makes life to us pass the Bible litmus test. Our loyalty is to the Living Word who is the same yesterday, today and forever. If our security rests in anything or anyone else, we’re standing on sinking sand.

freeoneindeed

Dead End Religion

Finally, I’ve come to a little understanding of how my former religious faith was killing me…

How?

I raised the words/writings of 40 men and women and gave them godly status. I then raised a leader and trained him/her to keep those writers status as divine and holy before my eyes.

Furthermore, I gave those leaders godly status, evidence by my adherence to their doctrines and interpretations. I made it a point that my attendance to these leader’s establishments, loyalty to their teachings and practice of their disciplines, equated to my loyalty to the divine, thus deserving of the exclusive entitlement of their “so called” salvation.

However, salvation is not elusive or exclusive as the many religious camps proclaim it to be; as every single one claims ownership of its franchise. Salvation, I discovered, was finding the freedom to be myself; the ability to live my own life. It meant escaping from the narrow mindedness that life belongs to one person and attaching myself to him, confessing his name and loyalty to his message is the only way to have access to real spiritual life.

Jesus, however, did not pretend close adherence to his person (whether divine or human), his message or his faith. Rather, he provoked me by rebelling to those principles and showing me the path to attaining like-life as his, as available or at hands reach by everyone. The core of his message spoke about unity. Not to a set of beliefs, writings or doctrines, but ONENESS with the creator himself.

There’s wholeness in this oneness. There’s freedom to be oneself without losing sight of the fact that we are a “chunk” of god himself. In that oneness, we have freedom to walk our god-given life, not as mere partakers of the divine, but rightful heirs and owners of it. We are owners of our present, and our futures will be as bright as our divine lives and creativities is allowed to BE.

But our oneness is not limited or reserved for the beautiful, the pleasant and the pleasure evoking beings of this planet. Is neither a reward for our moral compliance, our pious living nor our devoted adherence to a set of principles, laws or scriptures.

If Jesus ever evoked this oneness, he meant it to be for the needy, the poor, the desolate and the outcasts of this world. He made this connection with us outcasts, by identifying himself with us: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matt. 24:40).

In fact, his life’s purpose wasn’t to die for the sins of the world, but to display our common divinity. The life we all possess that’s been hidden away beneath our mundane lives, our religious performance, and our pretentious success. But he was not the only person to ever display this life. He was only one of many witnesses to the Jewish people. One that we have raised above other men and made responsible for that which we were commissioned to do: rule and reign in life.

You and I are also faithful witnesses of the divine. We’re god in the flesh. From the moment of our birth, to our last breath in our fleeting existence, we are displaying the image and likeness of our creator. Jesus himself pointed to this truth: “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”’? (John 10:44). This is the life he spoke about, the eternal Zoe we have inherited.

Unfortunately, just as we have made Jesus our god to follow, we have also taken god’s witnesses to other cultures, and given them divine status above other men.

The truth is that we are all divine humans. We were all created in the image and likeness of our creator and each other. We are all divine “chunks” of this life and we have the responsibility to honor and respect each other’s.

There’s a Hindu word that perfectly describes this oneness: namaste. In its simplest definition, it carries the following understanding: “The image of God in me, honors the image of God in you. I recognize that you and I are equal in god’s eyes, and I greet you in that place where you and I are one.”

Now, that’s oneness! One that can only be seen and experienced outside the box of religion…of which we all have full access an open invitation to enjoy…

~ José Arroyo
Love, Life and Freedom, my only religion
~ Namaste ~

Walking Effortlessly Into His Will

“O Lord, God of my master, Abraham, if you have decided to make my journey successful, may events unfold as follows…before I finished praying in my heart, along came Rebekah with her water jug on her shoulder!” (Genesis 24:14, 15, 43-45 NET)

“Then she left, and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers.

And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech” (Ruth 2:3 NKJV, emphasis and underlining mine).

Great deal of my life I sought the will of God for my life. I was told it was something difficult many didn’t achieve. Yet something I had to labor for in the hopes to find God’s grace for it. If I was not diligent in this quest by following the religious matrix, along with its doctrines, such as paying my tithes and serving and attending church, etc., I might never reach my destiny.

Yet, when looking at the above opening passages, it is easy to see that the task of finding God’s will may not be as difficult as my church leaders taught me.  There I see that Ruth just “happened” to walk into God’s plan for her life. Similarly, Abraham’s servant had not even finished praying in his heart when Rebekah also “happened” to walk into her own destiny.  Isn’t that amazing?  So, where does the idea of this difficult quest stem? I had to revisit this idea.

Religious Law

In my humble opinion, this idea stems out of a doctrine rooted in self-effort; a residue of the Old Covenant baggage that ruled Israel as portrayed in the Law.

For example, I discovered that the Law of Moses was a “…tutor who kept the Jews under protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed.  The law was the Jew’s guardian until Christ came; it protected them until they could be made right with God through faith, apart from deeds.  Now that the way of faith has come, they no longer need the law as their guardian” (Gal 3:23-24, NLT).  Clear enough! But, what about us Gentiles?  Funny, but we were never part of the Old Covenant Law.

Faith, Not Law

Nevertheless, just as the Jews were waiting for the fulfillment of the promise of God to Abraham, so were we in a sense. Us Gentiles were outside of the Covenant Law, slaves to the so-called gods that do not even exist (Gal 4:9, NLT).  While the Jews were under the tutelage of the Law, we waited for the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham, so we could join the Jews in a new covenant that would include us too.

Contrary to the Old Covenant, the New Covenant only requires one law of the believer: Love. This law is not a rule or “requirement” to be performed, but rather God’s life indwelling us. This is the end result of a life that’s under the fulfillment of the promise: under the influence of Christ’s Spirit. Hence not to be seen as a mandate per se or as something to be kept or entered in by performance discipline, but as a natural flow of life through willing surrendered to the Lordship and life of Christ within. The only trustworthy compass for godly living. How do I enter into this restful natural flow of life?  I simply move from performing into being by trusting God’s life within!

The Gospel

That’s the Gospel! Paul expressed it this way:  “This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight.  This is accomplished from start to finish by faith.  As the Scriptures say, ‘It is through faith that a righteous person has life’” (Rom. 1:17, NLT).  This simply means that, just as the Jews trusted God fully expecting Him to fulfill His promise of a Messiah, I also, fully trusting Him, receive the life of Christ within, through the indwelling of His Spirit, (Rom. 5:5). He himself will carry me through to perfection and present me to himself holy, spotless and blameless in His sight.

While the Old Covenant relied on rules to be followed, the New Covenant relies on Christ’s life flow.  It is His work IN me, not my own.  I live with confidence and clear conscience that I am living with a God-given holiness through the blood of Christ.  I depend on God’s gracious gift, not my own performance or standard keeping strength (2 Cor 1:12). Therefore, I have no part in the fulfillment of the New Covenant. I am just graciously grafted in!

Working to Rest

Consequently, if I am a workaholic and I really want something to do, there is plenty of work to be done.  In fact, there is only one type of effort required for me to enter into His perfect flow of life.  Hebrews calls it “…labor to rest” (Heb 4:11). This is the oxymoron of the Gospel.  In practice, looks like a workaholic trying to go on vacation.  It’s essential to a life were the love/life of God flows.

If one desires entering this rest, one will see how much effort it takes.  I don’t mean it is difficult. It is actually an easy task, but it’s a different kind of labor.  At first glance, it seems harder than self-effort and performance-driven religion. That’s why not many enter in it. It seems hard because it takes all my energy from doing, into being. Coming from a performance-oriented culture, it was easy for me to fall prey of behavior-oriented religion.

Instead, I am to trust the end result of the finished work of Jesus Christ.  The former produced in me a performance-driven and rule-keeping activity.  The latter, Christ-performance-driven: Christ within activity.  One is natural to my flesh, physical senses and rational thinking mind. The other it’s a natural flow of Christ’s life within. It’s an unquenchable trust in the life of Christ with-IN who strengthens me to do all things through Him.

Therefore, being led to enter into His rest and will is His work and task already accomplished in Christ. I just walk effortlessly into it by trusting only in His ability as wrought through the dead, burial and resurrection of our Lord. Like Ruth, Eliezer, and Rebekah, I just happen to walk into God’s perfect will by trusting Christ’s life flowing within, not by my good deeds or rule-keeping activity.

In conclusion, just as God rested from His own works, I must also rest from mines, by laboring to enter into rest from performance-driven, behavior modification laws and self-effort righteousness that can never be attained. Instead, I accept His righteousness, His rest, His Life, and Love, in the place of the one I could never achieve.

I effortlessly enter into my destiny, which is Christ IN me, the Hope of glory!

Keith Giles

God Didn’t Write The Bible. We Did.

When it comes to the Bible, you have to decide whether or not you believe that God wrote the Bible and people helped, or that we wrote the Bible and God helped, sometimes.

Growing up I was told that God wrote the Bible and people helped. This view was reinforced by pastors who held up that book and called it “The Word of God”, even though it was quite obviously the words of Moses, and Joshua, and David and Jeremiah, etc.

But, curiously, the Bible never makes this claim to be written by God. It is quite transparent about who wrote what, usually. Yes, there are certain passages where Jeremiah or Isaiah or Moses might say, “Thus saith the Lord”, but everything before and after that is quite obviously not dictated by God.

Even more obvious is that the titles of these books usually bear the name of those person who supposedly wrote it –  Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Micah, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, etc.

The real challenge for those who hold to this view is that Jesus shows up and very boldly challenges a lot of those “Thus saith the Lord” passages and flat-out contradicts them. Where Moses says that God brings rain on the just but sends drought on the unjust, Jesus affirms the exact opposite; that God brings rain on the just and the unjust alike, and that because of this truth we should also love both sets of people, too. [Because this is who God is].

Where Moses says “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”, Jesus says we should love our enemies, turn the other cheek and bless those who curse us.

Where Moses says “You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name.” [Deut. 6:13], Jesus says that we should not swear at all and that swearing oaths is “from the evil one.”  [Matt. 5:37]

Yikes.

Where Moses says that those who commit adultery should be put to death, Jesus says, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”

Just consider the audacity of writing a book and then calling it “The Word of God” for a minute. Can you imagine anything more blasphemous?

The Gospel of John does us a favor by pointing out that the “Word” was with God, was God and became flesh to dwell among us. Notice that at no time in this sequence is the “Word of God” ever written down. Never.

The Word is not a Book that we wrote about God. The Word is Christ. The Word became flesh and we have been trying our very best to get it into a Book ever since.

Simply put: The Bible is not a book written by God. It’s a book written by us about God. There is a huge difference.

The Bible does not claim to be our hope. It points us to Christ who is our hope.

The Bible does not claim to be our authority. It tells us that Christ is our authority.

The Bible does not claim to be the foundation of our faith. It reveals to us that there is one foundation and this foundation is Christ.

The Bible does not claim to be infallible or inerrant. It shows us that Christ [and Christ alone] is our source of Truth.

There is no life in the Bible. Jesus said so. He warned us that we could search the Scriptures and never find life in those pages. Our only hope is to come to Christ – directly and personally – to find our life hidden in Him alone.

A dead religion of laws and rules bound in a book is only useful to those who want to manipulate and control people using fear.

A living relationship with the One who fills everything in every way is what we’re invited into here and now. But you just might need to close the book long enough to step into that reality and experience the living Christ for yourself.

But, doesn’t the Bible tell us that:

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” [2 Tim. 3:16-17]?

Actually, no it doesn’t say that.

The word “Scripture” is in your English translation. But, if you look at the Greek text you’ll notice something alarming: The word “Scripture” doesn’t appear in that passage.

It’s true.

The word translated “Scripture” in your English Bible is actually the Greek word “Graphis” which is not the word for “Scripture” but the common word for “Writings”.

The text actually says: “All the God-breathed writings are useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…”

This begs the question, then, “What are the ‘God-breathed writings’”?

The answer is: “Any writing which is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness..”

That can be something from the Bible, or from Rumi, or from Buddha, or Brene Brown or Anne Lamott, or anyone whose words inspire you, teach you, correct you and lead you into a deeper connection with God and Christ.

So, for example, if you’re driving down the road and a song comes on the radio that touches you deeply, speaks a profound truth to your soul, that is an “inspired” song. God uses those words and that moment to communicate something life-changing to transform you more into the image of His Son.

This doesn’t mean that God wrote that song.

It doesn’t mean that the song is inerrant or infallible.

But it DOES mean that the Creator of the Universe used those words to speak a profound truth into your heart at just the right moment, to lead you nearer to Himself and bring healing and life to your soul.

That’s inspiration. That’s how God’s Spirit uses anything, and everything, to communicate Truth to us in everyday our life.

This is the Word of God which is living and active and sharper than a two-edged sword. It’s not a Book. It’s the living Spirit of Christ.

Christ is not bound by any book, or held captive by any religious text.

Neither are you.

The Scriptures Are Clear: The Bible Is Not The Only Way We Can Know God

Does the Bible really say that the only way to know God is through the Scriptures? You might be surprised at the answer.

In the ongoing conversation about the identity of the “Word of God” and differences between the Bible and Christ, we often hear reactions that sound something like this:

“You cannot know Christ apart from the scriptures. Everything we know about Christ comes to us from the bible.”

That sounds right, doesn’t it? I mean, how else could we know anything about God or about Jesus apart from the Bible? (Right?)

But, if we look to the Bible to support this notion we might be in for a little surprise.

As we look deeper we run across verses that suggest something a lot more breath-taking than what we might have expected.

For example, the Gospel of John tells us that “The Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14) and that this same Word of God is Jesus (John 1:1) and now Jesus (the Word of God) lives within every one of us who abides in Him (John 15:4).

So, if the Word of God is Jesus, and if Jesus now lives within me, then I have the Word of God inside of me.

This means we can know Christ the way we know our own voice, or our own heartbeat, because He is alive within us.

The Scriptures also tell us that we “have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16) right now and that we can discern “the things that come from the Spirit of God…because they are discerned only through the Spirit” (1 Cor. 2:15) and this Spirit is now alive within us.

Jesus also affirms to us that we can hear His voice and that He, as the Good Shepherd, is more than capable of making Himself heard:

“I am the Good Shepherd and my sheep hear my voice” (See John 1:1-16)

So, not only can we all hear our Master’s voice individually, we are also empowered by the Holy Spirit who “leads us into all truth” (John 16:13), as Jesus promised us.

The Apostles also affirmed these same ideas by pointing to the evidence of the Holy Spirit within us as proof that we belong to Christ and that we can know the truth apart from anything else:

“As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.” (1 John 2:27)

The anointing every Christian has received is from the Holy Spirit and this anointing teaches us about all things.

Now, does any of this mean we don’t need the Bible? Far from it.

I mean, why wouldn’t we avail ourselves of the all the treasures provided for us in the Scriptures? That would be unnecessarily foolish.

But my point is this: According to the Bible, we can know God, and Christ, by the indwelling Spirit of the Living God within us.

This is what the Bible teaches us about how we primarily know God and Christ and the Truth: By the Spirit of God.

So, according to the Bible, everything we know about Christ comes from Christ. Yes, some of it does come from the Bible, (and that of course comes from Christ, too), but even more wisdom and truth is available to us directly from the One who lives and breathes within us on a daily basis.

I think that’s worth at least one big “Halleluiah!” Don’t you?

Are you ready for a little more excitement? This is all exactly what the New Covenant is all about.

“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah…this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34; emphasis mine)

Notice that the result of this New Covenant would be that God’s people would not turn to teachers for wisdom about God because “My law (will be) within them and on their heart I will write it” and because “they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them”.

When these words were written it sounded like science fiction. How could God do this? What would it be like to have God’s Law written on our hearts? What would it be like not to depend on teachers to know God? How amazing would it be if everyone who belonged to God knew Him so intimately?

Now, today, because of Christ’s accomplishment and fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, the Holy Spirit has been poured out on all flesh. We, right now, are those people that Jeremiah prophesied about.

We are the people who now have God’s Law written on our hearts. We are the people who are now empowered by the Spirit of the Living God to “Know the Lord” because we can all know Him, “from the least to the greatest.”

Doesn’t that excite you? Isn’t that great news?

How sad would it be to live in such a time as this and not take advantage of such a wonderful gift from God?

Jesus declared this New Covenant in His blood. We remember His death and Covenant with us every time we eat the bread and drink the cup. Why stop there? Why not continue onward to claim the promises that come with this New Covenant reality? Why not listen for the voice of our Good Shepherd and learn to “Know the Lord” in this one-on-one way?

In fact, if we don’t live this way, we are actually choosing to live an Old Covenant life and to embrace and Old Covenant kind of faith rather than a truly Christ-centered life and faith that leads us to life and grace and truth.

Jesus was quick to remind us that we have no need of any other teacher except Him:

“Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah” (Matt.23:10)

Please don’t miss this, my friend. It was for freedom that Christ has set you free from the Old Covenant kind of life. The opportunity to know God intimately and to hear the voice of Jesus directly is wide open to you now.

The Lord is available to you. Listen for His voice.

The Word of God Is A Person

When we read about “The word of God” in the new testament, this isn’t usually a reference to the Bible or to scripture but to a person who is known as “The Word of God” or Jesus, the Messiah.

There are a few references where Jesus talks about the Old Testament scriptures as “the word of God” but those are the minority. Often, the term “word of God” is used to describe the sharing of the message of the Gospel, but in many instances the term is used to talk about a person, not a book that (at that time) had not been written yet.

For example:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” (John 1:1-4)

This verse, obviously is equating the “Word of God” with God, but then we read:

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

Now the “Word of God” is being identified as someone who became flesh and made his dwelling among men, namely, Jesus.

These verses below are also examples of the phrase “Word of God” being used in reference to a person (Jesus):

“Then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17)

In this verse, the “Word of God” can’t mean “the Bible” because it wasn’t written yet. At least, not the parts being referred to here (i.e. “the Gospel”).

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:11-13)

Probably the most overly quoted verse about the “Word of God” and usually in the context of written passages (the Bible) instead of what it was meant to – a person (Jesus).

Jesus is “alive and active”. Jesus “penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, etc.” Jesus is the one who “judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” A book can’t do those things, even a book as awesome as the Bible.

“I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” (1 John 2:13-15)

Again, the “word of God” that lives in you and me is not a book. It’s a person and that person is Jesus.

“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.” (Revelation 6:8-10)

People were not put to death because of the Bible. They were persecuted for faith in the person of Christ, who is the word of God.

“He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.” (Revelation 19:12-14)

In case there was any doubt, we are told that Jesus’ name is “the Word of God.” We also see that John, who writes the most about this subject, affirms that he is exiled for his faith in Jesus, not because of a book that hasn’t been written yet:

“I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” (Revelation 1:8-10)

So what? You might ask. Why does any of this matter? Because the apostles wanted us to understand that it was important to have a relationship with a person named Jesus, not with a book that they were in the process of writing down.

Jesus even warns us not to fall in love with a book, even with the Scriptures:

“You search the Scriptures, because you think you will find eternal life in them. The Scriptures tell about me, but you refuse to come to me for eternal life.” (John 5:39-40)

The Word of God is a person. His name is Jesus. Get to know Him.

Glenn Hager

What Do I Believe?

I have read and written so much about matters of faith for so many years that I finally got tired of it. I felt like that’s pretty much all I have to say on the topic. In the process, I fell in love with writing and began writing about other topics.

Throughout my personal pilgrimage, I have encountered many others who were on a similar journey. Together, we struggled with some of the practices of the institutional church and were trying to find a faith that was real, something we could embrace. So, now after shying away from writing about these issues for a while, I think it’s time for me to occasionally dip my toe back in the water.

This is going to be really personal and about what has been happening with me. I know some of you are still on this journey. So, maybe we can help each other.

I remember those early days of feeling spiritually homeless and only knowing what I opposed to and not what I felt I could, on good conscience, support. I felt like I was stuck there for a long time. Happily, I no longer feel that way.

Here are some of things that have developed for me. This what I believe. It’s kind of sketchy. I still have a lot of questions, which I am likely to take up in later posts.

I don’t have everything figured out. I don’t think I need to anymore, and I don’t think I am capable of it. This is quite of a departure from my many years of belief in a system of theology and feeling the need to have an answer for everything. Human beings are hard to really to know, because we’re complex. Certainly, for us to completely know the mind of God must be beyond us as well.

I am not mad or snobbish toward people who continue to find fulfillment through involvement with the institutional church. We all are at different places. If I wasn’t pushed to edge, I wouldn’t have ever questioned my involvement either.

I feel more integrated. Faith and life are more mixed together. The sacred and secular are one. I don’t feel like I need to do something “religious.” I don’t feel like I must go to church, read the Bible, pray, or tithe. I am certainly not opposed to them, I just don’t feel I have to do these things. Honestly, after being so emerged in that life for so long, I got tired of this stuff. I got tired of the Sunday production and the sermon pep talk or guilt trip. The Bible became overly familiar for me. I never stopped praying however, though I severely backed away from public prayer. I don’t want to be a performer. I came to believe there were other ways to honor God with money besides giving it to the church. I began seeing God in strange places and in many different places, which is one of the great joys of my newer way of believing.

Finally focused on three values that I wanted for me and for others.

Throughout my life I often struggled with inner peace. I seemed to look for reasons to felt guilty or shameful. Now, I realize that because of who God is and who Jesus is and how he regards me, things couldn’t possibly be any better between us. This whole relationship is up to him and not me and that makes me love him more. If I can be at peace with God and myself, I can be at peace with others and be an advocate for peace.

I was always trying to figure how to fix people, probably an occupational hazard of being a pastor. These days I try to figure out how to love them because that is the most transformational thing I can do, and it’s my “job.”

It seems like vocational fulfillment has been illusive for much of my life. I have a huge need to experience meaningfulness and purposefulness. Finally, I have settled on the concept of joy. That has two aspects in my life. One is trying to be true to myself and who God made me and the other is to recognize my many blessings and find joy in the little things I encounter every day. It helps me to fully present in the moment and bring a little light into someone else’s life.

As I recently posted, I believe a real faith is one that has been challenged by difficult circumstances, doubts, and questions. That kind of faith is very different than a hand-me-down, institutional-oriented, politicized way of believing.

The challenges which cause us to go back to test and evaluate what we really believe are well-disguised blessings which move us toward a real faith.

Giving Church a Try?

I have thought about it many times. For over two decades, church was my life, and my employment. But I have had very little to do with the institution called “the church” for the last ten years.

For most of my life, most of my friends were church friends, most of my reading was about church and the Christian life, and a big chunk of my waking hours found me involved in church work. I believed I was a part of the most important thing in the world. Church was my work, my calling, and my identity.

Now, I can’t imagine going back.

Through the years, I have experienced a wide range of emotions about that, not unlike the various stages of grief that we go through with any great loss. Finally, we arrive at acceptance and renewed focus on the life before us.

But church is about community and mission, which combine in a very noble purpose.  What keeps people away is not the core of its reason for being, but the perversion of that mission and the baggage the institution has acquired over two millennia.

Unfortunately, there is a huge misunderstanding about church. It’s simple. It’s basic theology. I just makes sense, but people stumble over it all the time.

Church changed from its humble origins when Christ followers huddled together to form an alternate community amid a hostile religious culture and an intolerant secular government. It was the only way they could survive.

Through the centuries, the humble faith became intertwined with the prevailing government and culture. It refined its doctrine to discern who is and who is out, who is correct and who is in error. It developed its own leaders, built its own majestic buildings, and amassed tremendous power and wealth. It also splintered into a mind-boggling array of sects, each believing they are the most correct.

In short, it became an institution.

That is not the church, but it is what people call the church, though they also confuse buildings and a certain time frame with the church, as well. This is the great misunderstanding I referred to. None of them are the church. That is all part some sort of religious institution or its customs that acquired so much baggage that it doesn’t even look much like its leader anymore.

Some good things have come out of  this form of institutionalized religion (some really bad things, too). Many well-meaning people are very devoted to it. For others, who may be purists, or questioners, or people who just got tired of meeting the expectations of the institution and its leaders, or folks who began to notice contrasts between the church and Jesus; it became a total disconnect.

So, if the institution is not the church, what is?

THE CHURCH is people who love Jesus and want to follow in his ways who find community and mission wherever it shows up. It will show up in the course of natural life. It might also show up through some focused pursuit to bring some of Christ’s light to a dark corner of the world.

People who do this are THE CHURCH.

No building, no clergy, no program needed, just a heart of faith in Jesus and a love for people.

To be sure, no one’s life forms a constant upward trajectory when it comes to being like Jesus and living a life of love. It’s really hard at times. We all fail, a lot. We need to keep coming back to Jesus and coming back to love, and yes, we need each other, but we don’t need an institution.

Churchless Community?

How do you experience community, if you don’t go to church?

That’s one of the questions I am asking myself as I am trying to figure out what I believe at this point in my life; and I have an answer: like everyone else.

I enjoy people and connect with them wherever and however the opportunity arises. I don’t need a special meeting or program for that.

You can’t make relationships happen. A worship service where you are looking at the back of each other’s heads while attending a staged presentation won’t do it. Not even a small group will necessarily bring people together in meaningful relationships. The fact is they can happen anywhere, but you cannot engineer it.

I was a pastor for over twenty years and almost all of my relationships were with church people, because that’s where I spent most of my time. I developed lifelong friendships, but I was also surprised how quickly others fell away when I stepped out of the institutional church.

Part of the structure of Christian teaching has been to have believer friends for fellowship and non believing friends for evangelism. Now that feels a bit weird and manipulative. Some people are supposed to build me up spiritually and I am supposed to do the same for them. Others are a means to an end, I keep them as friends so I can witness to them and get them saved.

Here’s a different way of approaching friendships: act like a friend, love them, forgive them, help them, laugh with them, and cry with them. Work along with God is already doing in their life.

Love.

Period.

It really is the most transformative thing we can do. No membership, no program, no special training, no appointed hour, no special building, no certain kind of people are necessary.

Love. Just love.

I think a good goal is to try to never miss an opportunity to love.

Jesus & Christianity: Different Agendas

Contrasts:

We have sacred creeds, sacred places of worship, sacred objects, and sacred leaders or clergy. Jesus had none of it.

We are part of a subculture that insulates us from real life. Jesus talked about a different way of living real life.

We obsess over trying to be better Christians. Jesus redeemed and restored us so we could reach our unique, individual potential as we represent him and do his work here and now.

We have Christian books, Christian music, Christian schools, and Christian t-shirts. Jesus didn’t figure on using his name to create a brand.

We focus on what happens when we die. Jesus taught us how to live.

We have codified what it means to follow him and have put together a systematic theology. Jesus just said, “Follow me.”

We have a church hierarchy of professionals and programs to make us better Christians. Jesus lived with his followers.

We like to package things. So, we have a Sunday morning show with a carefully crafted sermon. Jesus taught standing in a boat and sitting on a hillside.

We like to tell church members how to vote and get all upset when things don’t go our way in politics. Jesus couldn’t have cared less about the government.

Jesus probably would…

Hang out with gays.

Reach out to those who have had an abortion.

Take a liberal to lunch (a conservative, too.) Maybe he would have lunch with both of them at the same time.

Rip into some church leaders.

Blow people’s minds with his teaching.

Have a very “colorful” group of followers.

Love on broken people.

Be strangely silent about politics, government, “the culture war”, and family values.

Be the only person to bring Democrats and Republicans together.

If I were to attempt to make a complete list of the contrasts between Jesus and the church, it would never end. It is absolutely bizarre when you think about it. No wonder the church is messed up. No wonder its credibility is shot to hell. No wonder it has fallen on hard times.

Crazy Grace

Jesus really messed things up!

God becoming a baby, being born to an unmarried teenager, loving  all of the wrong people…prostitutes, greedy cheaters, traitors, rough, angry blue collar types, beggars, deformed people, individuals with disgusting diseases, terrorists, and  soldiers of the occupying super power. He deliberately reached out to people that his society had completely written off. They were the outcasts, the untouchables. He touched them, healed them, engaged them with his stories, and went to their parties.

He made enemies with all the wrong people…people of authority who could have him killed, religious and political aristocrats, the legalists, the powerful.

Jesus exuded grace when he welcomed the children, afforded new status to women, and told intriguing stories to large groups of fascinated followers. The way he engaged the outcasts and common people was a very new thing. He not only accepted them as they were, but he made it point to connect with them.

Most Christians would be quick to point to his death on the cross as evidence of his grace. Just don’t leapfrog over his life to get there.

Several biblical passages make a connection between Christ’s death on the cross and our status with God, life on the earth, and beyond. Words like redemption, sacrifice, and reconciled are used in to describe the meaning of Christ’s death for us.

He brought all of the dying to end. In the Old Testament, people brought animal sacrifices to God. All throughout history, people have done all sorts of crazy things, from human sacrifice, to self-torture and deprivation, to trying to keep impossible rules to appease God (or the gods.)

Now he asks us to be living sacrifices, to represent him in a manner like Jesus to the rest of the world, and to the people in our world. Unfortunately, a good deal of the time we drop the ball, but that’s our mission. That’s why we are here. Our life is a response to his love and grace, not a condition for it.

A More Normal Way of Being the Church

So, what does this “free range believer,” this “being the church, rather than going to church” look like? How can it have a relational aspect?

First, there is a responsibility piece to it. Once you decide to no longer outsource your faith expression; it becomes a personal responsibility.

Second, there is a relational piece to it. You are free to focus on the people in your world by taking time to notice them, engaging with them whenever you can, loving them unconditionally, and being there for them when they have a need.

Your church just became all of the people in your world. You get to show them a little bit of Jesus, but you also get to be yourself. We sure don’t need any more phonies who pretend to be spiritual giants, because there are no spiritual giants. There are only people who love and want to live life in the way of Jesus, who happen to get it right once and awhile.

You are not trying to get anyone to go to church or join a group. You are just trying to love them. The way you do that is wide open.

Think about the people in your life that you want to love and influence. That list would likely include your family, friends, neighbors, and associates. Then think about how to love them. It will be different for each person, but unconditional love is the core. Admittedly, the unconditional part will always be a little aspirational for us.

Pay attention to every person you encounter in the course of a day. Give each one your undivided attention. Give them a little love.

This way of being the church is so normal. It’s part of life. Relax. Just love people.

It can get a little messy, because people are messy. It won’t follow much of a schedule. Loving people like this is a mindset; not a program.

But, it is fun. You get to know a lot of different kinds of people, and see the various ways God is at work in their lives. Besides, we are made for relationships. We are made to love. It’s very rewarding.

Katie Haney

Finding Church in the Wilderness

Not long ago I was with a friend who is entering a new season in her life; one she knows will not be easy.  While discussing her own fears and hurt with me, she asked, “Are you scared to go back to church? Any church?” I paused, as I wanted to give her a thoughtful answer, not the “Not scared, just don’t want to go!” that popped into my head.  Because while there is truth in that, it is obviously a much more complex issue.

The truth is, neither my husband or myself are scared to go back to church.  While we certainly do not get warm and tingly when reflecting upon our somewhat recent church departure, and even though we know that a peaceful experience would not come from walking back through those doors, we do not fear a return to the “church world”.  In fact, if we were driven by fear,  I imagine we would dangle our toes back into the cold institution that once froze us into silence.  Because even though it was cold, cold can be familiar.   And familiarity is rarely feared.

No, fear is not what keeps us on the outside.  Admittedly, when we left, we had this idea that eventually God would put us somewhere else.  We figured we would take a month or two to heal (a month or two – ha!) and then God would lead us somewhere else.  Because, you know, it’s OK to take a “break” every now and then, but we certainly did not want to take ourselves out of the church.  We weren’t heathens!  But instead, God revealed another plan, one that involved a radical deconstruction within us.  A deconstruction of nearly everything we thought we knew to be truth.

The day that we walked through those doors for the last time is one seared in my memory. I remember what I was wearing; what the holiday decorations looked like in the sanctuary.  It was the day of the children’s Christmas program and I remember absolutely nothing of their singing, only the way I watched my own with tears in my eyes, knowing that their lives were about to drastically change.  I hurt for myself and my husband, but I pained for my little ones who had no understanding of why their friends were going to no longer be a part of their lives.

I remember the faces of those who took the time to check on me in my emotional state. I remember the way a dear friend held me as I wept and her confession that until that moment, she did not believe we would actually leave. I remember hoping that those who wanted us gone, those who made our lives so miserable for months, would see the pain in my eyes and get some sort of peace from it, no matter how temporary.

I remember looking around and wondering if those people would ever know the truth – if truth even mattered.

I walked around in a fog that day (as I did for many days after), yet there are details that I can still see so clearly.  They way my husband concealed his own pain so that he could help me in mine, the way friends who knew our story checked in on us. The way I laid in bed that night and listened as the Lord whispered, “The sun will come up again tomorrow, and I will still be here.”

If I am telling the truth, I don’t know that I believed it.

That was one of many uncertain days, as there were so many details still up in the air that God did not work out for many more months.  We struggled to figure out where we belonged.  We visited other churches in our area, some not in our area.  We tried to go in with open minds and hearts, but we never left anywhere feeling as though we had found a “church home”.  In fact, we often left and asked ourselves, “Could what happened there, happen here?” And the answer was almost always the same, because the system was almost always the same.

So the struggle continued.  We tried to “do church” at home with the kids.  We tried to go out and find those who needed help.  We looked for local ministries that may be in need of warm bodies to aid in their efforts.

We tried so many things and so many ways.

But our attempts to find God so that we could grow closer to Him in a time when we so desperately needed to feel wanted and important, did nothing but leave us feeling more defeated. It was clear that God was not leading us anywhere, and eventually we began to accept that the wilderness was our new home.

And the wilderness ain’t no cakewalk.

It’s lonely and quiet and void of any (humanly manufactured) spiritual stimulation.

The wilderness is dry and even though I saw no people, it felt as if someone was always kicking sand in my face. I simply could not see clearly.

Eventually though, when the thirst became so severe I thought I might actually lose consciousness – in fact I may have even hoped for it – God reminded me that He was still there as he spoon fed me drops of water in the form of a friends phone call or a random meeting with a friendly face in the middle of the grocery store.

These drops of water may have been few and far between, but they were enough to sustain me.

As the water continued to decrease my thirst, I saw the church take shape around me. Relationships grew stronger, God’s voice louder and more clear.  My role became more defined.

I found myself slipping into the position He had for me all along.  It was not one of nursery worker or Sunday school teacher.  I was not to lead any life-changing bible study.  There was no one THING that I was supposed to DO for God.

Instead, He asked me to just be. To just live the beautiful life He has given me, finding Him in every single second of it.

He asked me to love those He put in my path.

He showed me how to find Him by looking into the eyes of humanity.

He showed me the church He is building with every single drop of water.

With every meaningful conversation with a friend, with every hug to a grieving sister, with meals shared, with warm smiles from strangers, with spiritual questions from my children, with random messages from people asking me to share our story (likely so they would feel more comfortable sharing their own), Jesus revealed Himself.  His body.  His church.

No, I am not afraid to return to the church building because I fear emotional pain, as it is an inevitable part of life. But perhaps there is an element of fear; fear of missing what God is doing on the outside.  Because when we are so absorbed in our programs and our doing, we often neglect the living.

And there is beauty in learning to live in His church instead of trying to perfect it.

Jack Helser

You do not need anyone to teach you

Before retiring a few years ago, I was an auditor and analyst. A successful auditor requires a well developed nose for error, i.e., we’re a suspicious lot, but hopefully not to the point of paranoia. Likewise, a good analyst is all about the facts and data. So I suppose it was only natural that my suspicions together with my need for fact-based truth, would compel me to sit down with a large stack of church bulletins spanning several years of worship services, to inventory and analyze the many scriptures that were read for the sermon. My “gut” strongly suspected us pew-warmers were not getting the whole story and so I set out to confirm my suspicions.

It was quickly apparent that the same scriptures were read year after year in the weeks preceding Passover, Easter, Pentecost and Christmas, while entire books and chapters of scripture were never read at all. The first time I attempted such an investigation back in the early 80’s, I discovered that the pastor read just 10 verses of scripture on average, before giving his sermon. A few minutes of number crunching demonstrated it would take almost 60 years** to preach through the Bible at that rate, assuming no scriptures were ever repeated. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking; “how anal” and I don’t deny that. It’s just one of those things us analyst and auditor types do for fun when we’re not digging through the freezer to sort TV dinners in order of the “best used by” date. Suffice it to say, the exercise showed me IF I wanted to know what was in the Bible, I would have to read it for myself.

Among the scriptures I’ve never heard preached, much less read from the pulpit, are some real doozies that lurk like unexploded mines beyond the safe and shallow harbors of institutionalized churchianity. Such scriptures strike fear into the heart’s of ministers and when asked about them, prompt such dismissive replies as “it doesn’t mean what it says”, or “that was for a different time” or “well will you look at that, I’m late for parish bingo!” In my view, there is no more telling scripture about the games churches play than the universal avoidance of 1 John 2:27.

Christ has poured out his Spirit on you. As long as his Spirit remains in you, YOU DO NOT NEED ANYONE TO TEACH YOU. For his Spirit teaches you about everything, and what he teaches is true, not false. Obey the Spirit’s teaching, then, and remain in union with Christ. (1 John 2:27 GNB)

The implications of 1 John 2:27 are “Yuuge!” Why, if church-goers ever got a hold of that one, what would become of church services, the focus of which is the pastor’s sermon? Or how about Bible studies? Can you imagine a body of believers taught by the Holy Spirit and in unity with one another in Christ?

What to me is eye-opening about that particular scripture, is the way in which it contrasts the teaching of men and the Holy Spirit as the difference between teaching falsehood and truth. When the Lord first called me out of man’s traditional church to follow Him alone, the Holy Spirit specifically told me “do not read books”. I didn’t so much ask the Holy Spirit “why” as I simply pondered His command and understood that it had to do with avoiding the yeast of men.

Not long before that I had read a series of books about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which seemed to line up with the scriptures, that is until I read a few sections wherein the author wrote about his views of churches that were not affiliated with those over which he presided as ‘apostle’. Helpful as the books seemed to be, they were a mixture of truth and the author’s opinions which left me with a “sick-in-the-gut” feeling that I’ve come to associate with the gift of discernment. That “sick in the gut” feeling is simply the Lord’s way of saying “bad bread”. Sermons almost always leave me with that same feeling when scripture is twisted to guilt the congregation into “serving mother church.”

Lest you think I’m making this up, consider a few of the lies perpetuated by man’s traditional church. Scripture says “God does NOT live (abide) in temples made by hands (men)” (Acts 7:48 and 17:24) and yet, every Sunday, believers are called to come to a temple made by men to worship God WHO IS NOT THERE! Likewise, Jesus said to the woman at the well “you will neither worship on this mountain nor in Jerusalem” (John 4:21) which Bible commentaries say marks the end of location-based worship. Yet that doesn’t stop ministers from twisting Hebrews 10:25 “forsake not the assembling of the saints” to turn it into a commandment to “go to church” every Sunday. So from one side of their mouths, they preach freedom from location-based worship, while from the other side of their mouths, they command location-specific worship. And they presume to judge and condemn (scold) those who do NOT come to worship in a building at the appointed time to worship God who is not there, as back-slidden, forsaking the assembly, etc.

How about the messages preached around the passage “therefore the Sons are FREE!” (Matthew 17:26) which in context of the passage, means that the sons of God do not have to pay taxes for maintaining a man-made temple nor pay for the religious services conducted therein. Promptly upon conclusion of the sermon, an offering it taken up to pay for the church building (in which God does NOT live) and for a preacher (teacher) that scripture says we DO NOT need! How in the world can anyone preach “the Sons are FREE” and then turn right around and hit up the congregation to pay what amounts to temple taxes?

The truth is, man’s traditional church is built upon lies and is sustained through the perpetuation of lies. Some are the deliberate twisting of the word, some are monkey see monkey do (teachers copping the teachings of other teachers without proving them); still others are lies by omission, such as never reading or teaching from scriptures that if known, would set men free. First John 2:27 is just one such example.

The ONLY way to get the Truth, which by the way is the very person of Jesus Christ (John 14:6), is to get Him and His Word through the Holy Spirit, our teacher, and the one whom Jesus says will ONLY speak what He hears.

The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and make you remember all that I have told you. (John 14:26 GNB)

When, however, the Spirit comes, who reveals the truth about God, he will lead you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own authority, but he will speak of what he hears and will tell you of things to come. He will give me glory, because he will take what I say and tell it to you. All that my Father has is mine; that is why I said that the Spirit will take what I give him and tell it to you. (John 16:13-15 GNB)

With regard to men who covet the disciples of Christ for themselves and feed them lies to keep them in religious bondage, I’ll leave it for you to decide who is speaking through them. This is what scripture has to say about the difference between Christ through the Holy Spirit our teacher, and men:

The festival was nearly half over when Jesus went to the Temple and began teaching. The Jewish authorities were greatly surprised and said, “How does this man know so much when he has never been to school?” Jesus answered, “What I teach is not my own teaching, but it comes from God, who sent me. Whoever is willing to do what God wants will know whether what I teach comes from God or whether I speak on my own authority. Those who speak on their own authority are trying to gain glory for themselves. But he who wants glory for the one who sent him is honest, and there is nothing false in him. (John 7:14-18 GNB)

As for me, I hate being lied to and for that reason, have left man’s traditional church for good. It is the Holy Spirit I want to teach me and my wife and who keeps us in unity with the Lord and one another. Only the teaching of the Holy Spirit is always and and in every way, truthful.

Certainly I have met a few pastors who have a good heart and love the Lord, whose message is consistently ‘give your life to and follow Christ’. One such man led me to Christ as a boy; another married my wife and I. Men like that labor to make Christ visible within a religious system that often seems hell-bent on obscuring Christ. Sadly, it’s been my experience that such men are few and far between. Most that I have encountered, when push comes to shove, preach and teach to maintain the status-quo, or to appease the big donors and manage the church accordingly. Truth is sacrificed for false peace or profit; God is sacrificed for the rule of man or mammon. Remember, Revelation 3:20 paints the picture of Jesus on the outside looking in, knocking on the door of the church at Laodicea, looking for any man willing to open the door and give Jesus entry. If Truth is a person (Jesus) and He is on the outside looking in on the church at Laodicea, how can there be Truth therein?

Truth, like the sharp double-edged sword that it is, will separate us from falsehood and the men who tell lies to lure the children of God into religious bondage. The ONLY way to get truth consistently, is to make the Holy Spirit our exclusive teacher.

Christ has poured out his Spirit on you. As long as his Spirit remains in you, you do not need anyone to teach you. For his Spirit teaches you about everything, and what he teaches is true, not false. Obey the Spirit’s teaching, then, and remain in union with Christ. (1 John 2:27 GNB)

Where do you go to church?

When Christians meet for the first time, the question most often asked is “where do you go to church?” I dread that question more than any other because the people who ask are usually shocked by my answer. I hope by the end of this column, to show the reader just how silly the question really is.

Since the time of Christ, the question has been asked in many ways. There was the woman at the well who asked Jesus about worship on Jacob’s mountain or in Jerusalem. Jesus’ reply made it clear that where we worship is no longer relevant, but who and how we worship (John 4:21-23). On another occasion, the disciples stopped a man from working miracles because he was not a member of their church. Clearly angered, Jesus said “don’t stop him – if he’s not an enemy, he’s an ally” (Mark 9:38-40).

So if where is not important and there are only the 2 sides in the conflict between light and darkness, can there be more than one church (Mark 3:25)? The answer to that question would seem to depend on perspective: God’s, or man’s. And since we are called to “deny ourselves” and follow Christ alone (Luke 9:23), only only His perspective matters.

What has impressed me concerning the Church, is the Lord’s heart for unity as expressed in His prayer for all believers to be one with each other in the same way that He and the Father are one (John 17:20-23). In keeping with His desire for unity, Jesus commanded us to love each other (John 13:34-35) and when we have disputes to resolve them quickly (Matthew 5:23-24 and 18:15-17). Our oneness and love for each other lets the world see Jesus in us and shows them we are His disciples.

Sadly, division and opposition began cropping up in the church even before the New Testament was complete. To the church in Corinth Paul wrote that their gatherings did more harm than good because of disagreements between opposing groups (1 Corinthians 11:17-18). He also corrected them for boasting about whom they followed, whether Paul, Apollos, or Peter. Paul wrote that such boasts were carnal and sinful, and he admonished them to focus on God (1 Corinthians 1:12 and 3:4-7). Today, divisions are known by the sanitized name “denominations” where people profess religious brand-name loyalty to Calvin, Luther, Wesley, et al, and opposition has turned to competition between churches.

Are division and opposition any less carnal and sinful today than they were then?

From God’s perspective, there is just one church, and it is not a building that we “go to” (Acts 7:48 and 17:24). Rather, the church is the Body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23) which is people, what Peter calls “living stones”, and God is assembling us into a spiritual temple (1 Corinthians 3:11, 12:18 and 1 Peter 2:5). Instead of asking “which church do you go to”, we ought to recognize one another as temples of God in which His Spirit dwells (1 Corinthians 3:16 and 6:19) and wherever God brings any 2 or more of us together, church happens (Matthew 18:20).

The Biblical example for the church is cities and regions living for Christ in relational fellowship, hence the 9 letters of Paul and the 7 letters from Jesus in Revelation, which are addressed to all believers in a city or region. If Jesus were to write a letter to us, He would likely address it “to the Church in Clallam County” or “to My People on the Olympic Peninsula.” His message is clear; wherever we live, we are God’s children and we are brothers and sisters.

Imagine the kind of relational community described in Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32-35 here! What would it take from each of us to become a city, even region united in Christ?

As for the original question “where do you go to church”, the answer is EVERYWHERE! Church happens in the aisles of a grocery store, in a café over pie and coffee, in the Laundromat, in homes and outdoors, because it is Christ who makes us the church, not where we meet.

Emma Higgs

Love, Love, Love: The painfully misunderstood, profoundly simple,
earth-shattering message of Jesus

If someone was to ask me to sum up the message of Jesus in a few words, I would probably quote the Beatles:

“All you need is love.”

Love.

Not just shallow, gooey, fluffy, romantic love.

The kind of love that sets people free.

Love that gives of itself endlessly and asks for nothing in return.

Love that fights tirelessly for the needs and rights of strangers.

Love that breaks down barriers, crosses borders, and shatters social constructs and expectations.

Love that sees the beauty in all life and seeks to honor, treasure, and nurture it.

Love that treats the outcasts of society as if they were worth more than all the diamonds, gold, and oil in the world combined.

Love that brings tangible hope to those who are suffering physical or emotional pain … those who are lonely, lost or terrified … those whose hearts ache with grief … those who long for deeper meaning and significance.

Love that points to a greater reality, a greater purpose, and a greater future for the whole of creation.

Love that never, ever, ever gives up.

That is the kind of love that brings transformation.

This is not a sideline to the main Gospel message in the Bible, an optional add-on that helps to make life more bearable but is ultimately pointless.

This is the point.

Over the centuries, we “Christians” have complicated and distorted this message. We have added conditions, built walls, piled on guilt. We have embarked upon great, well-meaning excursions in entirely the wrong direction, and fought battles in the name of Jesus without realizing that it is Jesus himself we are fighting.

In particular, we are still obsessed with the idea of “purity.” We have this deeply ingrained idea that our job is to be the Morality Police, to keep everyone in check and keep standards up. The church’s current preoccupation with sexuality makes this all too clear. Our job is not to make sure everyone meets all of our moral ideals. Our job is to love. That is what we should be known for.

This is far from a wishy-washy, watered-down, “easy” version of the Gospel. Love is as fierce as a mother defending her children in a war zone. It is as powerful as a tsunami and illuminates even the darkest, most hopeless places.

Love speaks out against the powers of this world that crush those on the underside. It cries out on behalf of those who have no voice. It swims against the tides of culture and refuses to participate in systems and structures that breed inequality and injustice.

Love is transforming this world.

One day love will win.

And in the meantime, Jesus tells us to get on with the dirty, dangerous work of loving against all odds.

There are many things we cannot understand and will never be able to fully explain. But just imagine what could happen if we “Christians” accepted this mystery, and channeled all the energy we spend arguing about moral issues into unconditionally, selflessly, and tirelessly loving our world. (Moral issues are important, but secondary. I suspect if love truly was our compass and our driving force, the moral issues would start to resolve themselves or at least pale into insignificance.)

Love. No ifs, no buts.

Profoundly simple, yet radically counter-cultural and earth-shattering.

I wonder if the Beatles knew how right they were.

Wayne Jacobsen

Reaching Across the Growing Divide

According to the latest statistics thirty-one million passionate followers of Jesus regularly attend a Sunday gathering, many of those believing local congregations are the only place a true believer can engage the church of Jesus Christ today. And we have thirty-one million passionate followers of Jesus who no longer belong to a recognized congregation, many of them believing that corporations are a poor reflection of the church Jesus came to build.

So, who is right?

Neither.

And the fact that they both think they are and look down on the others tears the very fabric on which the church of Jesus Christ is sewn together. Nothing in Scripture, including Hebrews 10:25, obligates us to arrange ourselves in institutional settings, and nothing in Scripture says that God can’t be among those who do, to share his glory and invite them into his reality. So whether you “go to church” or whether your friend doesn’t is not important to God and the sooner it no longer matters to you, the freer you’ll be able to love whomever God wants you to love and walk with.

How we define the church is not of first importance to Jesus, but whether we are engaged with him and his work in the world. Arguing over church issues is like two teams showing up in the aftermath of a landslide to rescue those who re trapped and instead of jumping to the task at hand they begin to argue over who has the better brand of equipment.

Senseless isn’t it?

Paul said, “the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself in love.” (Galatians 5:6) The Galatians fought over circumcision, we do it over Sunday attendance. In the end neither matter. What does, is a growing trust in our Father expressed by the love we share for others. Participating in a local congregation does not save you, and not participating in one does not damn you, even if others claim so. There are lots of ways to get quality teaching, find meaningful fellowship and participate in the kingdom coming in the world and doing it through a local congregation is only one of those. If you find it helpful and meaningful to your faith, be there, and if not, look for other ways to connect with people more relationally.

But now more than ever we need to reach across whatever we think divides us and do the one thing that Jesus asked us to do as his followers: Love one another as he loves us and that includes people with whom you have differences. In fact loving others has mostly to do with our differences it’s easy to love people who think like we do. We fall into the same trap Jesus’ disciples did when they saw others doing miracles that weren’t part of their discipleship group. Jesus warned them to have a more expansive view of the kingdom and a more generous view of people: “Whoever is not against us is for us.”

We’ve been divided long enough by brand names, rituals, doctrine, and denominational structures. Isn’t it time we found a different reality to recognize the church Jesus is building around us? Even if you attend a local congregation, you would miss a lot of what God is doing in the world if you think it the only expression of Christ’s church in your community or the world, or that they are the only people God wants you to know.

For the past twenty years as I’ve walked alongside people who’ve lost connection and hope in institutional Christianity. They haven’t, however, lost their faith in Jesus, their passion for real community with other disciples, or their desire to touch the world around them. They are discovering that church life doesn’t require an institutional component. During that time, I also kept up friendships with people who swear by the necessity of those local congregations. I have close relationships with people who are elders, pastors, and committed attenders, who have provided great encouragement and wisdom for my journey. I have been involved with a number of outreaches to the poor and marginalized in the communities in which I’ve lived, some sponsored by denominations and others by individuals with a passion to serve their community.

The body of Christ has become so much larger and far more diverse for me, filled with people who wouldn’t agree with everything I believe, but they do share a relationship with the same Father I know. What draws us together is not our theology about church but finding ourselves alongside each other in the river of the Father’s affection. In that connection the sheer silliness of whether or not someone attends a specific meeting regularly is seen for what it is. When we make doctrine or religious practice the basis of church life we only add to the division. Most of those differences are not based on the essentials of who Christ is anyway, but on our varying interpretations of obscure passages that become less important in the face of love.

All I need to have fellowship with you is have the slightest inkling that you are getting know the Father I know. I recognize that by the love he’s pouring into your heart both for him and for others, especially those who don’t see the world the way you do. Are you learning to be generous and kind, or becoming more judgmental, demanding that others agree with you? You can be one day old in this faith with all kinds of doctrinal suppositions askew, and no idea how to live in his reality and yet we can share life because that life is in him, not the correctness of our doctrine. In time he will bring you and me to what’s true. That’s why I don’t regard conformity a condition for fellowship or collaboration. All I need to see is a Father’s love growing in your life. I trust him to take care of the rest.

Sara and I have been reading a fascinating book called The Soul of Shame by Dr. Curt Thompson, MD, who uses brain science to show the devastating effects of shame in disconnects our brain functions internally as well as our relationships externally. Shame, whether in the form of self-pity or arrogance, shatters the creation and isolates us from others. “Shame has a way of translating different into better or worse. To the degree that shame has a foothold in my heart, I can unconsciously react to difference with judgment directed either at the other or myself.”

If love were the most important thing we would be able to walk together and put his love in the world without being threatened by people who live out their faith differently than we do. I’m not suggesting by that, that there isn’t right and wrong thinking about God, because there is. I’m just harkening back to Romans 14, where Paul invites us not to try to shape each other’s journey, but trust God’s Spirit to do that. “If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help.” (Romans 14:4, MSG) And the best environment for that to happen is where people are being loved and cared for, while they are being encouraged to get to know Jesus better.

A long time ago I gave up the need to classify someone by their denominational affiliation or lack of it, or even use it as a gauge of the depth of their spiritual passion. Love doesn’t require it and doing so only chokes the hope of relationship. Scripture does not empower any entity called “the church” to determine who is a part of God’s kingdom and who isn’t. We have too long worried about drawing the lines to determine who belongs to God and enforcing those lines with a vigor that snuffs out the smoldering wick, and snaps off the bruised reed.

Paul entrusted that work elsewhere. “God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: The Lord knows those who are his,” (2 Timothy 2:19). If he knows we don’t have to. Jesus had already warned his apostles that if they tried to separate the wheat from the weeds they would destroy the wheat in the process.

What would happen if all we looked for in each other was a growing participation in the reality of his love and sharing it with others? Wouldn’t we find better connection with brothers and sisters around us regardless of what group they belong to or what doctrinal differences we had? Wouldn’t this be the fruit of the Spirit Jesus encouraged us to look for rather than some man’s wisdom, or some woman’s seeming miracle-working power?

If we’re going to be the people in whom Jesus’ prayer for “complete unity” is fulfilled, we’re going to have to put him and his love in the preeminent place and nothing else. We’re going to have to get over being threatened by people who see life differently and worry less about those who claim we can’t be followers of Christ because we don’t jump through whatever hoop they think is essential.

We respond to his Spirit as he knits the church together by pursuing those relationships he puts on our heart. For local church advocates, they would be blessed to reach beyond the borders of their own institution and connect with Christians in other institutions and share fellowship with those who don’t attend at all. For those who’ve stopped attending you’ll be blessed to have connections with those who still do, if they will allow it and not despise your journey.

Jesus’ family in your locale is so much bigger than the ways we’ve divided her up. How much more would we demonstrate the kingdom if we loved and cooperated beyond our different views of church or our doctrinal distinctions? Love can do that. Nothing else can.

Of course not everyone is going to see the church this way. Many will hold to their rituals, and doctrines as hills to die on, judging harshly those who do not to the same. But what we need an increasing number of Jesus followers learning to love generously, reaching across our imagined lines of demarcation and loving and serving alongside others Jesus has invited us to know.

If we let this relational reality that love allows define the church it will free us to love other followers of Christ with open hearts and hands. Recently I was invited to dialog with a group of pastors about my book, Finding Church and those who see church beyond the local congregation. At the very end one pastor spoke up, “I know a ‘done’ who used to be a close friend and elder but left my congregation five years ago. How should I treat him?”

My heart melted at the question. I’ve been a pastor. I know how painful it is to have good friends leave the fellowship. Most don’t even mean it personally, but that doesn’t mean we don’t take it that way. It always felt like a personal rejection of me, my message, or at least the friendship we shared together. But this man wanted to reach beyond that pain and see if the friendship was still there.

I found myself responding, “If he cared about him them, why wouldn’t he be your friend now? I’d take him out for coffee and just reconnect, focusing the conversation on Jesus instead of church.” He did exactly that. By the time I’d driven the two hours it took me to get home, I had a voice mail from that pastor. He’d called his friend right after the meeting and since he was available then he drove straight to a coffee shop to meet him. They hadn’t seen each other in five years, but his voice cracked as he shared the amazing conversation they had. “I have my best friend back.”

Wouldn’t it be great if our friendships could grow regardless of what we might be doing differently on Sunday morning? More than nailing down the holes in someone else’s doctrine, or spending countless hours in religious activity, we would simply learn to live in the ever-growing reality of his love. If fellowship really spreads like this our tribal distinctions will become meaningless and Jesus’ prayer that all his followers will be one would be answered.

It may only take a phone call, but in such moments the kingdom of God grows in the world.

Why People Are Leaving

What does it take for someone to leave a congregation of people they have loved and served alongside, often for decades?  Why would they suddenly break away from close friends and lifetime traditions to wander into a lonely and uncertain future only to be accused of being selfish, bitter, or rebellious?

Except that it generally isn’t sudden at all, and not at all what they had hoped for.  Yes, there came a time when they stopped attending, but none of “The Dones” I’ve met over the past twenty years left easily or suddenly.  In fact most have wrestled with the decision for years in the face of some concern or unmet hunger.  Initially they thought others around them would resonate with their passion, or be grateful if they identified a problem that needed attention. To their shock, they found their repeated attempts to discuss their concerns or hopes fell on unsympathetic ears.

Try as they might to bring positive changes, they only meet resistance and eventually disrespect and frustration.  “That’s not the way we do things around here.”  Many give up trying to convince others, but their hunger continues to until sitting in the congregation becomes painful.  After years of struggle they finally feel they have no other choice but to follow their hunger instead of quietly going along.  As much as they want to stay with people they care so much about they find they can no longer participate in meetings that have become a detriment to their spiritual passions.

While the process is similar for most that I know, the reasons can be quite different.  Recently I asked people on my Facebook page what it was that finally made it clear that they needed to leave their congregation.  I got over a hundred responses from people that were consistent with the thousands of stories I have heard over the last two decades.

Forty-two percent said they were worn out by the machinery and the need to serve it.  Some of that is burn-out from having to do more than they had time or energy for, but for most it means that the cost it exacted wasn’t worth the fruit it produced. Rarely does anyone say the congregation was all bad except in the most abusive cases.  Mostly they say the demands of the congregation began to displace their passion for Jesus and that scared them.

Twenty-three percent said they no longer respected the leadership, either because they were dishonest, demanding or manipulative. This didn’t result from a bad confrontation or two, but a series of experiences that consistently eroded their trust and respect.

Twenty percent they simply hungered for more authentic relationships, feeling the ones they had were too superficial or governed by pat answers instead of people really getting to know them and wanting to walk alongside them in their joys and struggles.

Twelve percent wanted more of Jesus and his life than their congregation offered.  The focus seemed to be on things other than helping people learn to experience the fullness of life in him.

Three percent reported no dissatisfaction at all, but simply felt led by the Spirit to move onto a different stage of their journey.

Of course my pool of respondents did not include those gave up on God when they gave up on their church. Many do, seeing the failures of their institutions or its leaders as proof that God doesn’t exist, or if he does, at least isn’t engaged with them. It’s a tragic legacy of systems that often do more to perpetuate programs than demonstrate Father’s affection.

But for every person that has left, be they pastor or parishioner, there are dozens more who are thinking about it and second-guess that decision every time they sit through another meeting that doesn’t address their deepest hungers.  Many stay because of the relationships, others out of obligation no matter how painful it becomes. Actually they are “done” too, attending in body only and with decreasing frequency and it is only a matter of time before they stop as well.

Simply put, most of “The Dones” left because their spiritual passion could no longer be fulfilled where they were.  So what may look like someone just walked out one day isn’t true.  It is almost always a long, protracted process that even they resisted until they could do so no longer and still be true to the Spirit’s call inside them.

The process is hard on everyone. In the first few months many of those who leave are racked with guilt and second-guess their decision frequently especially if it is difficult to find others on the outside who share their hungers.  And it’s hard on those they leave behind, who often feel rejected by those who leave.  Harsh words and judgments are exchanged as each side seeks to convince themselves they are doing what’s right and want to convince the others for their own validation.  Nothing will destroy friendships faster and lead to animosity and hurt that will spread throughout the community.

Those who have left are not your enemy. If they were your friends before, wouldn’t they still be your friend now even if you think are concerned for them? Wouldn’t loving each other be vastly more important than how we gather or don’t gather on a Sunday morning?  Maybe if we were less threatened by their hunger we could celebrate their to find an environment more meaningful to their faith.

Certainly some who leave find their way back when they can’t find the community they are looking for.  Most, however, after a year or two begin to find themselves connecting to others who share their hunger for more authentic and generous community in small groups or growing friendships without the need or expense of sustaining the machinery. They spend more time in conversations that nurture their faith and less time planning meetings and maintaining structures.

People who lose hope that the institutional model can provide a lifetime environment for community and growth may not be the death knell for the vitality of the church; maybe they are the hope that there’s more than one way the church takes expression in the world.

For more information on “The Dones”, read Dr. Josh Packard’s research into this phenomenon in his new book Church Refugees.

Richard Jacobson

Do We Know Christ or Just Know OF Him?

I have a friend who has been interning for the past nine months with church workers who plant organic house churches. These churches aren’t built on non-scriptural traditions such as special buildings or senior pastors or weekly services. Instead they simply follow the example of the churches described in the Bible. They live like small Christian communities made up of family, friends and neighbors and they function like extended spiritual families. Rather than meet once a week to debrief about their separate spiritual lives, they share their day-to-day lives with one another in spiritual community, centered on Christ. Anyway, my friend recently came home for a visit and we talked about the experience of planting genuine church communities as opposed to organizing and launching an institutional type of church.

Very often an organic church is planted among a small group of people that have left the institutional church because something has been stirring in their spirits. Sometimes that stirring feels like a growing frustration with church as usual or a longing for something deeper. Sometimes there was a catalyst that totally rocked their church paradigm and revealed the big disconnect between what we do on Sunday mornings vs. what we read about in the Bible. Often that catalyst is a book like Pagan Christianity. Regardless of what started it, soon there is a small group of people rallying around this longing for genuine church community. Maybe they meet together for prayer and discussion and Bible study or they go through a book together. No matter what the gatherings look like, at some point it will become clear that God is forming a church. But what’s the next step? How do you actually transition from a group of friends hanging out together into a fully-functioning church community?

That’s where the church workers come in. I know these particular workers have been doing this for decades now. In fact, I’ve had the privilege of hearing some of their stories firsthand. As you might imagine, many groups are ready and waiting when the workers arrive, ready with a huge series of questions: How does a genuine church function? What does real church leadership look like? Where do the kids go during the services? How do we handle money? Is it best to meet in one place or rotate houses? How do you deal with conflict? With visitors? What’s the order of service look like? But when the workers arrive, all they do is talk about Christ. Oh yeah. That makes sense. After all, you need to lay a firm foundation, get the focus right. Plus the workers are going to be there for several weeks, maybe even months. So there’s plenty of time to get into the minutiae around who does what and how it all works.

But then the next time the group gathers, the workers only want to talk about Christ again. And the next time, and the next, and the next, and so on. And whenever people bring up questions that steer the conversation away from Christ, the workers keep bringing it back. It’s like they don’t care about anything other than Christ, like all they ever think about is Christ. In fact, they focus on Christ so much that it actually becomes frustrating to many groups. The way my friend describes it, the workers simply keep proclaiming Christ and focusing on Christ, knowing full well that some people can’t wait to talk about something else, can’t wait to get on with the “real” agenda. But the workers do this until every one in the group finally begins to realize there is no other agenda. They focus on Christ until everyone lays down his agenda and dies to his questions.

After all what is a church? Is it not the Body of Christ? So when we plant a church are we not, in a sense, planting Christ? So how do we imagine something so clearly born of the realm of the spirit gets birthed into this world? By strategizing about potluck rotations and where to park the cars each week? I’m not saying those things don’t matter. I’m just saying they don’t matter nearly as much as we think. Remember what brought you to this point. Did you leave the institutional church simply because you wanted to meet in a smaller room? Or because you didn’t like the pastor? Or the services? Or the music? No. You left because there was something unsettling in the pit of your stomach every Sunday morning, a sense that something wasn’t right, a sense that you were called to something more.

But the absence of a bunch of man-made institutional church practices doesn’t automatically lead to a church that is solely focused on Christ. We aren’t a “real church” simply because we don’t have a building or a senior pastor or a church board or tax exempt status. We’re not defined by what we don’t have. Removing all the non-scriptural nonsense like unnecessary overhead and imaginary positions and ineffective programs is a great way to make more room for Christ. But the emptying of ourselves is only the precursor to Christ. Christ is about filling. Christ is about overflowing. Genuine church community is about being filled with Christ to the point that he is overflowing into everything and everyone around you. And when Christ looms this large in your life and finally dominates your spiritual landscape, everything else will assume its proper proportion. Things that seemed crucial become inconsequential. Issue that were once paramount become almost trivial.

Not only is the church community incentivized to resolve issues quickly because they don’t want to be distracted from Christ by temporary, worldly problems but they also have full access to the mind of Christ on every issue. Have a question? Ask for his insight. Have a problem? Ask for his help. Don’t just do things in his name. Do them in his strength as well. Learn the true meaning of the story of Mary and Martha. Transition from the room adjacent to Christ, the room filled with worry because there are so many things to do in the name of Christ and come into the room where his actual presence dwells and simply sit at his feet. Don’t live next door. Don’t relate to him second-hand. Don’t just say “I feel like I know you.” Know him. Lay down all the agendas, all the worries, all the to-do lists and, like Mary, focus on the one thing that is needed: Christ.

Jared – Rogue Millenials

Spotlight on Unchurching

Lots of data has been collected over the last decade about Millennials and their views on faith. Organizations like Barna Group have done survey after survey and have shown that some interesting trends exist among our generation as a whole. Focusing on Millennials who were raised in church, we break down into four major attitudes.

10% have left the faith completely. This can be encouraging. Despite the mass exodus of young people from churches we see, 90% are still holding on to their faith and personal practice of it even though many are ditching the institutionalized practice of it.

20% are still in churches and are happy. They haven’t seen major problems within their congregations or problems resulting from their institutional practice of faith. To them, church attendance is a practical AND enjoyable expression of faith.

30% are in churches but are unhappy. They see major problems but continue with church attendance for a variety of reasons. The important thing for this group is that, despite all it’s flaws churches are still worth supporting through attendance and possibly finances.

40% are the rogues – those who abandoned the herd to practice faith in the streets, in our homes, among the lost instead of in the building on Sunday mornings. They see the institutional churches of our era as more damaging than helpful to the Kingdom, and have walked out on the institutions our parents and grandparents built to practice faith in a far more personal way, a far more tight-knit community.

When we started our blog one year ago, we knew we all had the same complaints and frustrations, hopes and callings. What we didn’t know was how many of us there really are out there. Not only have 40% of Millennials, the largest generation in American history, already walked out of institutional churches, but 30% more are on the verge and 10% have gone so far as to leave the faith. That’s 80% of our generation who have serious concerns about churches “doing business as usual” – so grave are our concerns, that we’re voting with our feet and finding God elsewhere.

We have not just found this trend among Millennials, however. Large groups of other generations are being guided by God along the same faith walk – leaving the institutions of faith to rediscover the tight-knit community early Christians experienced, and leaving the institutional practices of churches to experience God in more personal ways.

One of the fast growing groups that share this conviction and faith journey is the “Unchurching” movement – and that is who we’d like to spotlight today!

Unchurching is based on a book by the same title, written by Richard Jacobson. The subtitle is “Christianity without Churchianity” and it delves into the worrisome trends of modern American Christianity to put churches and their traditions on a pedestal higher than Christ and his Kingdom.

It’s well known that many Christians get distracted by the trappings. You have to do communion the same way WE do, or else you’re not a real Believer. You have to do baptism the same way, go to church on the same day, use the same symbol, fixate on the same passage, give the same percentage of your income – or else you aren’t one of us.

This herd mentality is extremely common in churches. It’s conformity over freedom, and it damages the diversity and freedom the Kingdom of God was meant to bring. If you don’t do everything like our church does, if you don’t agree with every element of our statement of faith, if you don’t interpret every passage of Scripture the same way we do – then we disown you. The allegiance to the business corporation is often shockingly unChristian.

Unchurching is a growing movement of Christians who are leaving churches and the allegiance to trappings churches demand in order to find God, experience him more personally, and enjoy smaller, tight-knit communities that don’t put institutional concerns in front of godliness.

Many of those unchurching leave church after neglect, abuse or becoming disenchanted from seeing the goals of the Kingdom hijacked by supposed Christian leaders for church empire purposes. Because of this, the unchurching movement has become a support group for refugees from the church.

So if you are one of those who consider themselves “unchurched,” we want to encourage you.

You are not alone. There are hundreds of thousands of us.

You are right. There are serious problems in the way most churches practice the faith – problems that lead to serious damages in the lives of God’s children.

There is hope. Those who leave the church often tell stories of how God healed them of their wounds and brought them to a closer personal relationship as well as connected them with more sincere and authentic Christian community.

In Jacobson’s words, those who are unchurching “not only want a different expression, we want an entirely different experience.” It isn’t about moving the same old church practices to a smaller venue. It’s about reassessing every one of those practices to see if they meet the needs of the Kingdom, advance the message of the Gospel, and draw us closer to God.

“We are moving completely against current culture, including the current church culture.” – http://www.unchurching.com/blog/

“Unchurching” is just one of many movements seeking to rally those who are leaving institutional faith to rediscover the wonders of personal faith and intimate faith community.

To learn more about them, check out their website at Unchurching.com

You can also find them on social media. “Unchurching Group” on Facebook is a place where over 4,300 people have connected to share their stories of leaving the church and finding God.

Even if you haven’t left church, it is important to connect with those who have left. Only by developing relationships with those who left can you better understand how they practice faith different from you and how churches can reconnect with those of us that have gone rogue.

Brad Jersak

Our Final Authority: the Bible or Jesus?

Our final authority

It was one of my classic last-minute cancellations. A church whose pastor and elders had invited me to speak on prayer found themselves awkwardly withdrawing their invitation. The pastor had moved on and the interim minister had done some digging. He was offended that my church (Fresh Wind at the time) had nothing in our statement(s) of faith about the Bible. That was because our doctrinal statements were the Nicene Creed and the Apostles’ Creed. I told him that I was not comfortable with creating statements of faith or redacting the great creeds. In the end, what he explicitly demanded was this confession, similar to many confessions across modern Evangelicalism:

“We believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, infallible and inerrant in all it affirms and our final authority for faith and practice.”

My inability to make that confession was the deal-killer … and just as well, I suppose. But so unnecessary.

Our final authority … there’s the rub. Debates and definitions of inspiration aside, what I found myself balking at was sola scripture … i.e. the “final authority” of Scripture alone. The Bible itself makes no such claim and in fact, within its pages, we see quite contrary claims. I’ll dispense with my long-form arguments for now. In the end, my confession is that Jesus Christ alone is my final authority, whose will is discerned through the interdependent witness of the Body of Christ, the testimony of the Scriptures and the illumination of the Holy Spirit. At some point in my journey, final authority was transferred from the Bible to the Christ in my faith and practice, my theology and my ethics (though I still struggle daily to surrender to Jesus’ authority).

Toppling dominos

What I didn’t expect was how that shift would inevitably and dramatically topple other dominos. When your faith is led by who Jesus is rather than what the Bible says, you’re in for a wild ride. Lest my dear Baptist mother becomes worried, I’m not advocating for the careening bumper cars of “anything goes” post-Christian faithlessness. Note that my “Christ alone” proposal doesn’t ditch the Bible. It merely subordinates the Scriptures to the eternal Word-made-flesh and then welcomes both the Spirit of God and people of God to explore how the Bible points to Christ.

What theological shifts follow when we transfer final authority from the Bible to Christ? And why?

The WHY may come first. When Christ is our final authority, we must interpret the character of God through the Incarnation. When Christ is our final authority, we must read the human words of Scripture through the divine revelation of Christ’s life.  When Christ is our final authority, Scripture passages can no longer be read in isolation to describe God’s nature or works in ways that don’t align with the nature and works of Christ or his unique and infallible unveiling of Abba. As long I took the Bible as my final authority, I could and did made that error all the time. Having stepped back, I still see it regularly and probably continue to stumble on it more than I imagine.

All of the above leads me to think about what changed following my shift to Christ as the Alpha and Omega of revelation. Among these were my convictions about God’s nature, atonement theology and Sermon on the Mount living (including active nonviolence).

From the Bible to Jesus, from eternal hell to eternal life

But there’s one specific example I’m observing a lot as the decade winds up. I won’t posit this observation in absolute terms but … is it just me or does the shift from Scripture alone (biblicism) to Jesus alone also inevitably lead from “I believe in eternal conscious torment because the Bible says ______” to “I believe in ultimate redemption because Jesus is _____”?

Isn’t the notion of eternal conscious torment utterly dependent on a particular set of Scriptures, isolated from the grand narrative and interpreted apart from the Christ-revealed character and intentions of God as ultimate Good and perfect Love? And isn’t the hope of ultimate redemption the inevitable telos of the (biblical) saga of the Christ, by whom, through whom and for whom all things were created, whose every enemy will be vanquished and whose kingdom shall reign without limits? Thus, with Christ as our supreme authority, our final end and our ultimate destiny, this beautiful hymn of ultimate redemption makes perfect sense (from Colossians 1)?

15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

When Christ is recognized as our final authority, as the One who will deliver his kingdom over to the Father of all-in-all (1 Cor. 15), then the whole of Scripture will find its rightful place in humble service of its King and his kingdom. Hopefully, its interpreters will do likewise.

Mike Kapler

When Sermons Become Snares: The Sabbath

What do you get when you mix Old Covenant law and commandments with New Covenant grace? The Apostle Paul had some choice words for this, which varies by Bible translation. He referred to it as fruitless discussion— empty words—meaningless conversation (see 1 Timothy 1:5-7). He was addressing those who had swerved and turned aside from a pure heart of love and a sincere faith, while desiring to become teachers of the Mosaic law … “even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.”

Unfortunately, this is the basis for most church sermons today. Mix in a little Jesus and a few New Testament verses out of context and people won’t even realize the pieces don’t fit the picture puzzle they are trying to create. There are many examples on the broad road of sermons that erroneously try mixing various Jewish commandments into the message of the gospel, but let’s look at just one sample as we take a rest stop on the subject of the Sabbath.

The weekly Sabbath was always from 6 p.m. Friday evening until 6 p.m. Saturday evening (it has never been on Sunday). The Sabbath was considered as a day of rest to be set aside (sanctified) and treated as holy. It was a commandment given to the Jewish people within the law which came through Moses. It wasn’t given to Gentiles born outside of the Jewish race, and (thankfully) it was never meant to be applied or followed in the New Covenant of Jesus Christ—we aren’t called to keep any of that law which could only result in death, increased sin, and condemnation—in other words, falling short of the requirement.

Today’s proponents of a Sabbath observance will encourage some sort of recognition of this day in our lives but they will vastly vary on how it should be applied. Why is this? Because they are making it up as they go. As with any old covenant law, the rules and guidelines are hand-picked and constantly changing. These “covenant clashers” are clueless as to why the sabbaths were given to Israel under the law. Yes, I said sabbaths (plural). If you think this was simply a weekly observance, you’d better dig deeper into the Mosaic law … and don’t forget to integrate the new moon into it. An Internet search on that topic alone will make your head spin.

The Sabbath sermons will entice and lure you into something that looks and sounds like rest, and you may find yourself saying, “Oh, how I needed to hear this message!” But when you decide to take a bite to see what it tastes like, you’ll discover a hook that is nothing more than a modernized version of an impossible, obsolete covenant which originated from a law that was weak and useless, unable to provide the rest or life that a person is seeking (Galatians 3:21 & Hebrews 7:18). The list of rules found within this type of dubious, doctrinal mixture of the old and new covenants always fluctuates from one brand of religion to the next. Oh sure, they’ll quote the Bible verses to fit their theology until the cows come home (including “red letter” verses), but they miss the context of the gospel and the power of the finished work of the cross of Jesus.

“Remember the Sabbath day, keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8). Religion loves to spew out the headlines when it comes to the articles of law and commandments. But your sermon forgot to tell you there were something like 39 other commandments, rules and statutes attached to that one. The specifics from the law they are advocating for you to follow are mainly left to your imagination. They’ll tell you to “surrender” every area of your life … but you’ll spend years in misery trying to figure out what that means and how to do it … without ever achieving that plateau.

The Jews couldn’t find rest by trying to abide by any of that law … including the Sabbath … which had requirements leading to the exact opposite of what was advertised. The preparation for the sabbaths alone was exhausting … not to mention the pressure of making sure they didn’t cross a line on that special day which could end up getting them stoned to death for something as simple as picking-up sticks (Numbers 15:32-36). The true sabbath commandments were as hard as stone, they didn’t bend with graceful flexibility.

Here’s where we should be:

“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ” (Colossians 2:16-17).

The entire law was a shadow, Christ is the substance! Come out from among the shadows and into the light. Your rest is found in Jesus Christ, not through observing a day that is set apart here and there with your own made-up rules. You (you!) have been set apart—sanctified—in Him! He did it for you!

“So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his (Hebrews 4:9-10).

This isn’t a billboard for advertising a specific Sabbath day, it’s a revelation of entering true, spiritual rest by faith for those Jewish people (Hebrews) who had formerly been under a system of works. They could now rest from trying to attain righteousness by the works of the law.

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Jesus was speaking to Jewish people burdened by a religious system unable to provide them with rest. There is no spiritual or emotional rest in abiding by the Jewish Sabbath or a modernized version of it. That commandment (like all the others from that law) was meant to point those people to something new and better—Jesus Christ and the glorious ministry of his Spirit. It results in pure love, a good conscience and a sincere faith. Hey, we can all use some regular intervals of physical downtime and recreation, but our true peace and rest is eternally found in the Person of Jesus Christ—every minute of each day, regardless of what we’re doing. Jesus Christ is your life and He has become your Sabbath.

Take a permanent breather.

Christopher Kirk

Who Does Jesus Call?

“Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people!  If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.  Jesus is “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.  Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”  When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.  But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say.”   Acts 4:8-14

In the instance recorded above it is very clear that Jesus called unschooled and ordinary “men” to be instruments of healing and enlightenment to their community. That’s right Peter and John who would be pillars of the first apostles were simple, unschooled and ordinary men.  Can that possibly be correct and true?  Were the leading men of the early Church simple folks like you and me?  If this is true then modern “Christianity” has it all wrong…because today’s “church” demands that those they “call” to “leadership” be very well schooled and extra ordinary.

Those that Jesus called were called because of the relationship they had with Christ and their proven character over time.  Today’s “Church” “calls” its ministers based on appearance, sheer academic performance and sermon giving skills.  In short the traditional/institutional “church” hires and calls people to “the ministry” due to their ABILITY to perform in the Sunday morning show and their skills to be the CEO of the “church”/ business.

I am here to tell you that serving Jesus and others should not depend upon ones ABILITIES at all.  What Jesus looks for in a servant of HIS is AVAILABILITY to the leading of the Spirit of God. The truth is that who God calls… HE also equips.  Meaning that HE grants ABILITIES to do the task at hand regardless of our level of competence or skill prior to Him equipping us.  We do not need to have special oratory or healing skills to be used by Jesus in any given situation.

All we need to be is available, yielded, willing and open vessels that can be filled to overflowing with His Spirit at any given moment.  It is the condition of our heart that matters and not the level of our intelligence or skills.  When we serve others in any capacity we will do so with the strength and ability that God provides.  We will serve only with the anointing HE provides us and not with any measure of our flesh or mere human skills.  It is ALL about HIM and not about us or our performance abilities.  Jesus calls the unschooled and ordinary to do amazing and extra-ordinary feats.  Don’t disqualify yourself from His service because you feel you are not smart enough or able……JESUS makes you able with the power that flows only from Him. Who does Jesus call?  HE calls you!  So please be ready for your next opportunity to share HIS gift in you with others.

It’s About New Wineskins, Not Old Foreskins

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.  Mark my words!  I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.  Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.  You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.  But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value.  The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”  Galatians 5: 1-6

Jesus said:  “Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins.  If they do, the skins will burst, and the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined.  No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”  Matthew 9: 17

It seems that there will always be people living under the law and trying to place others under it too.  To do so denies the message of grace and the entire New Covenant.  In Jesus we are set free from the law of sin and death and reborn into His wonderful Kingdom of love, grace and light.  To choose law instead of grace places one under a yoke of slavery and bondage to the written code that brings death in this life.

Furthermore, if we follow any portion of the law we are obligated to obey the whole law and Christ becomes worthless to us. Those who seek to be justified by observing the law are separated from Christ’s grace.  Jesus still loves them, but the law places a wall between them and Christ that cannot be scaled by mere human endeavor or obedience to the law.  The only way to grace, truth, and life is through a relationship with Jesus, and one cannot serve both Christ and the law simultaneously.  Once again the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

However, a simple turning away from the law and towards Christ again will restore our relationship with Him and place us firmly within His hands of Grace and mercy once more.  It is all about faith and never observance of the law.  Jesus waits patiently for us to turn His way and never gives up on us.  No matter what we do, His face is continually turned towards us and He is quick to forgive.

In the end the only thing that really matters is faith expressing itself through love.  The Lord has faith in us and He expressed His love by going to the cross.  The big question is….will we deny ourselves, take up our very own cross and follow Him daily?  You say you have faith?  Prove it by extending love and grace to others along the way.  Purposely walk away from the law and the judgment it places on everyone, and instead open your heart to Him and allow His great love and grace to flow forth through you to both the washed and unwashed masses.  Jesus has filled our lives, our new wineskins, with the priceless new wine of His Spirit.  Drink deeply from His fountain of life and allow Him to pour you out for the sake of others each and every day.

Brian Knack

I Left the Institutional church, now what?

My decision to leave the institutional church was not made lightly. I wrestled with God about it for some time. It had nothing to do with bitterness, rebellion, or discontentment with the status quo – although some of these and other similar elements were part of the mix. What happened in my case was an overwhelmingly positive vision and nothing less. I caught a glimpse of a better way, plain and simple. The glimpse that I saw was enough to draw me out and lead me on, and it is that same vision which leads me to this day.

Leaving Religion, Not Jesus

Just because people are fed up with organized church doesn’t mean their appetite for Jesus has been swallowed up too. I know because I am one of these millions who have dropped out of active involvement in organized religion. I accepted my relationship with Jesus twenty-two years ago. I say ‘I accepted’ because God had already accepted me long before the foundation of the world. After two decades of being a part of the organized institutional church, I discovered that the church is far more lost than the world it’s trying to save.

Many of the churches today are vastly more interested in saving themselves instead of saving the world. For example, people go to church to find God. Instead of finding God, followers are often saddled with a catalog of “do’s” and “don’ts” as burdensome as the US tax code. They are told what to think, how to believe, as well as how they’re supposed to live. In many places, the church is still the most segregated place in America. Today, however, your neighbor is just as likely to be black as white, or Muslim as Christian. Maybe people are leaving the church because they’d prefer to live in the real world — the desegregated one.

Then, there are those church leaders who seem obsessed with having the biggest church, the largest crowds and the most expensive campuses. While 40 million people died of starvation in the last decade, churches spent $10 billion on campuses.

Perhaps some churchgoers departed because they’d rather their charity actually make a difference in the world.

I Left The Institutional Church, Now What?

This is addressed to those who have stepped out into the ‘Wilderness’… to leave all that is familiar behind and step out in faith much like Abraham did.

If you’re expecting God to raise you up and send you back in to ‘set the captives free’… you might be right, but it won’t happen right away. There are a few things that the Holy Spirit is going to need to deal with in you. He takes us out to bring us closer to Himself, however, the process is rarely ever what we imagine it to be.

First and foremost, we need to get our bearings. This can be quite painful. This “rebellion” you’ve just committed will oft times lead to breakups in families and friendships, causing great pain and heartache for all concerned. Some people lose their homes, families, reputations, and even their livelihoods. The price to follow Christ can be very high.

‘Loneliness’ will be your constant companion. God’s WORD will often be your only source of comfort and guidance. Your beliefs and attitudes will be tested, tried, and brought into conformity with the ‘will of God’ – whether you like it or not. Your own will, wants and desires are gradually transformed, until you don’t even recognize yourself anymore.

There will be battles, of all shapes and sizes, on a regular basis. The greatest are within your own heart, mind and soul. God knows what’s in our hearts and He knows exactly how to bring them to the surface so we are forced to deal with them. Anger, jealousy, bitterness, strife, unforgiveness, covetousness, pride, vanity, lust, selfishness – even after 22 years. Fear not, God is surprised by nothing. He loves you in spite of them but He is not content to allow them to remain.

Rebellion, Suffering and The Journey

“Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered” Hebrews 5:8.

Jesus is to be our only example and suffering is part of ‘taking up our cross and following Christ.’ The struggles being called-out bring have a great deal to do with letting go of everything we have been taught. It’s one thing to come out of the church, now we need to get all the bad attitudes, false teachings, and self-righteousness out of us. Only the Holy Spirit of God can accomplish this task in us.

Just breaking out seemed a mammoth accomplishment! Not surrendering to the peer pressure, the loving admonitions that “God wouldn’t do that”, “If you leave this Church you are going to hell”, “God always removes the chaff from the wheat”, “You’re in rebellion. You need to get back in line”, Touch not God’s anointed” (in reference to disagreeing with shepherds who would block your progress). This was just the first leg of the journey – there’s more to overcome.

Back in the comfort zone of religion, you developed some good theories and opinions. You learned to call them beliefs. It is one thing to be opinionated about something, it is quite another thing, and quite humbling, to actually live and experience firsthand the provision and the chastening of the Almighty. We have grown very adept at pleasing men and now we are learning how to be pleasing in God’s sight. It is a personal issue. We can no longer be content with another person’s assessment of our spirituality. The opinions of others MUST NOT hold a candle to the raging fire that is God’s all-consuming love. We must hear it from Him and Him alone, no other voice can satisfy our longing.

Continuing The Journey

The call to ‘come out’ is continually going forth. There are those who hear, and respond, only to ‘die’ in the wilderness after having been delivered from their taskmasters. The wilderness is not our destination! We must not set up camp and start our own little ‘work of the Lord.’ We will point to it and say, “this is why I had to come out.” We fail to understand that we are settling for the very thing God delivered us from. Only this time it is one of our own making. If we settle there, we will fall short of what God desires to bring us in to, missing the mark completely.

The sad truth is that although we have left the building, we take much of what we’ve learned there with us. It is all too common to see and hear very ‘religious’ statements of belief coming out of the mouths of individuals who left the instruction of men long ago. Remember, that our being conformed to the image of Christ does not happen in the twinkling of an eye. We must grow up into Christ, and at each step of our growth, a little more of self is crucified and put under.

Chris Kratzer

Christians, This Is Why People Think We Suck

Maybe you’re tired of hearing it, maybe you don’t care, or maybe you just don’t want to see it, but the truth is, whether we like it or not, most of the world doesn’t view Christians nor Christianity in a positive light—especially the conservative brand of our faith. For all our efforts to “win people for Christ” with even the best of intentions, at the end of the day, many see Christians as hypocritical pretentious jerks, “church” as a ridiculous waste of time, and our faith as a hopeless, ignorant, hateful, and useless relic of the past that refuses to evolve.

Sure, we could spiritualize it all away with leather-bound excuses as we declare that “in these the end of days, people will turn away.” Yet sadly, blinded to our own rebellion, it is in fact we, not them, who have increasingly rejected the true and pure Gospel—falling away from God who is Love, Jesus who is Grace, and His message that is peace. Once again, the irony is deafening as the religious who point fingers at the world in disgust and blame are the ones found to be most entrenched in its evils—lacking real compassion, humility, love, and true faith.

Believe what you want to believe, draw the lines where you want to draw, retreat to your camps, wrap yourself in the faith flag that seems to best suit your spiritual comforts—the world doesn’t care. We have largely lost our voice, surrendered much of our influence, and bear the image of spiritual buffoons in the eyes of many who look upon us. Fair or unfair, that’s the mirror of truth—whether we are willing to stand in front of it or not.

Sure, a few megachurches and contemporary ministries are increasing in numbers as sheep shift from pasture to pasture seeking out the best show. Yet still, American Christianity in all its expressions is largely dying and we, like drunks, are apparently so addicted to our religiosity that we would just as soon die with it in a pool of our own spiritual vomit than embrace the sobering cure.

But no, you won’t hear it, you won’t listen to it, you won’t take seriously the countless voices of those who’ve been left to drown in our wake. Deflecting truth, with your head buried in the echo chamber of your own understanding, has become to you a prized spiritual gift. For it is our deafness to the Christ crying out all around us that has drained the marrow out of our souls, rendered us nearly useless, and made us a sure enemy of God’s heart.

A voice cries out in the wilderness, “Christians, when will we lift our heads out of the sand and finally realize just who we have become?”

To those who have ears, let them hear.

We’ve become nose-blind to our own stench. The pungent, nose hair singeing aroma that exudes from our pores is the very reality we refuse to admit—our spiritual attitudes stink. Maybe we don’t put it into exact words, but we say it exactly in every other way. “We have the exclusive truth, and everyone else is the exclusive problem.” “We are right, and everyone else is wrong.” “We have all the answers and a Bible that clearly tells us so, who are you to question or differ in opinion?”

“You need to come and join us—think like us, believe like us, look like us, live like us, for we have the cure to you who are the cancer.” “God is working towards our success because of our faith-living while working towards your failure because of your rebellious sinning.” “We will always be just a bit better than you until that day you become one of us—in the meanwhile, we’ll be praying for you.”

With vomit dripping off their lips as countless fight the urge to gag, the world joins together in upchucking an honest chorus of reply, “thanks, but no thanks.” “We’d rather spend an eternity with our noses shackled to the excretion holes of a thousand skunks than to spend one moment becoming anything like you.”

Reeking with religious pretentiousness, to the spiritual nostrils of good people everywhere, we have become an all new fragrance for an all new world, “Stank” by Evangelical No. 5.

To those who have ears, let them hear.

We’ve spiritualized and justified hate. Countless mindful, thinking, good people observe the behavioral liturgies of our faith and truly wonder, how can anyone encounter Jesus personally and read the love-driven talks He gave, and yet somehow translate that into a faith ladened with racism, sexism, discrimination, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, nationalism, imperialism, judgement, and condemnation? This is incomprehensible to the world, and rightly so.

If there is any hate that should be adopted by our faith it should be directed at evil, which is defined by its root word in biblical Greek as being “the pursuit of making a name for oneself.” Interestingly enough, the essence of evil in God’s mind is not sin nor disbelief, but rather using Jesus for the pursuit of power for one’s own benefit.

It is the condemnation of others in order to secure our own sense of righteousness. It is the assertion of one’s rights to the minimizing, reducing, or removal of another’s. It is the privileged gripping onto their own privilege to the detriment of true equality. It is the building of walls where God desires tables. It is the exclusion of any of the “all” that Jesus always and forever includes. It is arrogantly insisting that one is “pro-life” while being equally determined to twist the scriptures in every possible way that brings condemnation’s death to those with whom we disagree or deem to be sinning.

To the level that the world despises us and the “Christian” label we wear, it is because we have given them every good and biblical reason to do so. For we have become evil’s highest manifestation—spiritualized hate.

To those who have ears, let them hear.

We’ve reduced Love into an accessory. As much as we might claim to be a people of love, the world knows us best by the love we fear. With us, every good thing has a condition, expiration date, and imposed limits. Don’t love people too much. Don’t give people too much grace. Don’t have too much fun. Don’t enjoy life too much. Don’t be around those people, go to that movie, listen to that song, or buy a cake from that baker—danger, danger, danger. Shackled by a fear-driven faith, we’ve turned love into a defensive, fragile posture.

In fact, nothing brings us more anxiety than God’s own declaration that He is Love—without conditions, restrictions, or expiration. Everything within our religious being fights and claws at this table-turning revelation and conclusion.

Why? Because, for God to be wholly and purely Love would render so much of what we are, do, and believe as ridiculously absurd, contrived, selfish, useless, and anti Christ. The house of religious cards that has become much of our Christian faith falls tumbling to the ground the moment God is embraced as solely Love as He himself declares. The litany of additional attributes we project onto God that conveniently justify our loveless behavior, all become impotent—anger, judgement, wrath, punishment, revenge, and condemnation alike. That’s why we are so insistent on confusing Love, and making it an accessory.

The fact that people can experience God and live Him with one single Word—LOVE—sends our entire faith construct into a tailspin plummeting to earth in a ball of flaming fire.

All evil begins where Love has been made an accessory.

To those who have ears, let them hear.

We’ve turned a book into a bulldozer. The Bible is only black and white to people seeking the control of another and the spiritual justification of self. For nothing levels people we don’t like and creates mountains upon which to judge others like the perfected craft of Christians turning the Bible into a bulldozer. What God meant to be a human springboard to a life-long encounter with Jesus, Christians have turned into a people prod, hoping to corral the world into their religious misery.

The “clear teachings” of the Bible aren’t clear to anyone, and everyone knows it, except we who arrogantly claim to know it best. The heights of authority we insist on attributing to the Bible are often sadly equal to the depth of our desires to exert authority over others. “This is what the Bible says” is ultimately our clever way of declaring, “This is what we believe the Bible says, and you need to believe it too, or else.”

Yet, for all our proof-texting and bulldozing with Bibles, the world isn’t fooled, every verse loses its ability to condemn, judge, and breed self-righteousness the moment it is rightly placed under the feet of Jesus who is Grace, the only perfect Word of God.

The truth is, we don’t have to interpret the scriptures towards inerrancy, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, bigotry, a life of sin-management, God-appeasement, or a tormenting hell for people who miss the mark in loving God in return—we choose to. The flames of our hate, condemnation, and pride were in our hearts already, we just use the Bible to fuel them and give it all a spiritual glow.

People don’t dismiss the Bible because of Jesus, they dismiss the Bible because of us.

To those who have ears, let them hear.

We’ve become all talk, and our talk sucks. We sing the songs, say the prayers, attend the services, read our Bibles, make our promises, pledge our allegiance, and hope the world doesn’t look under the hood. The truth is, we’re faking-it-to-make-it along with everyone else who signs up for religion. If American Christianity was calibrated to the heart of Jesus, we wouldn’t have to do so much pretending.

We’d be singing far less songs to the Jesus on the worship screen and crying more tears with the Jesus on the streets. We’d be praying far less to God for His will, favor, and blessings, and doing much more for the hurting, marginalized, and oppressed. We’d be worshiping far less in elaborate buildings and serving more passionately without them. We’d be spending far less time idolizing the Bible and loading it for debate, and more time listening to people’s stories and seeking to truly understand them. We’d be spending far less time making promises to God we can’t keep and more time loving people in ways they would never be able to forget.

If only, we would simply take the advice of the Christ calling out from amidst the world, “stop talking, stop pretending, stop playing church, and learn to shut up and listen.”

See, people aren’t stupid, God has put His light into all humanity—they can do the spiritual math.

Love plus conditions equals no love at all. Gospel plus Law equals no gospel at all. A God who is Love but also hates, condemns, and forever imprisons is no god at all. Striving to please, appease, and satisfy an angry god is no life at all. Sin-managing, pretending, and looking the part equals no hope it all. Equality for some equals inequality for all. Inclusions for the privileged alone equals no inclusion at all. Being human without being humane is not being human nor divine at all. Hating the sin but loving the sinner equals hating it all. Thirty thousand different Christian denominations that believe entirely different things about the same Bible equals the sure and glaring reality that no Christian group or individual can accurately claim to truly know, understand, and rightly interpret it all.

As good as we are at building buildings, mission statements, ministry branding, smoke machines, video venues, robed choirs, ministry conferences, and clean carpets, the truth is, we suck at loving, we suck at being human, we suck at listening, we suck at serving, we suck at sacrificing, we suck at including, we suck at humility, we suck at unselfishness—basically all the things Jesus would have us to be and do.

The world sees it, yet we refuse. Perhaps because, to our surprise and ensuing rage, they have the Spirit and we have lost it.

Hear this and hear it clearly, God is awakening a people to His true self (who is Love) and His true Gospel (which is Grace), but sadly, most Christians and much of Christianity will have no part of it and therefore no part in it. My sense is, God is not only completely o.k. with that, He might just be behind it.

Where is the Grace in all of this?

It’s in the courage of trembling voices such as this, that speak, tell, and confront the religious hell on earth we have created and surely have become, believing there is still hope for us all—never giving up.

To those who have ears, let them hear.

Christians, this is why people think we suck.

Grace is brave. Be brave.

Steve McVey

Living By Christian Values

There is a great deal of discussion and debate today about “Christian values”. The term is used to describe the spiritual/moral principles around which believers build their life. On the surface it would seem that defending Christian values is a noble cause. Yet the Bible never teaches that our life should be built around a particular value system.

Paul never said, “For to me to live is to live like Christ.; However many Christians would suggest that to imitate the life of Christ is a worthy goal. Paul did say, “For me to live is Christ.”; His lifestyle was not an imitation of the life of Jesus. Christianity is not an imitation of Christ’s life. It is an expression of His life.

When a person focuses on imitating Christ, he will be obsessed with doing right and avoiding wrong. Obviously a Christian should do right and avoid wrong. But many in the modern church may be putting the cart before the horse. The Bible never suggests that we are to behave a certain way in order to become righteous. Any effort to achieve righteousness by our behavior will only lead to self righteousness.

When a person receives Christ, he is given the very nature of Jesus. Peter said that we have become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:3). A Christian does not gradually become righteous — he has been given the gift of righteousness in the person of Christ! 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “that God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”. You may behave more righteously than you do right now, but you will never be made more righteous than you are today. Every Christian has the nature of Christ. How can we get holier than that?

When our focus is only on behavior, we are living a legalistic, performance based kind of “Christian” life. God’s prescription is that our focus should be on Jesus. Abiding in Him will allow us to live in victory. Our lifestyle is not built on values, Christian or otherwise. Our life is Christ! As we abide in Him, His righteousness is expressed through our lifestyle. Apart from him, even our “good” deeds are nothing more than empty religion. Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing”. We can preach, pray, teach, witness, give, and do a hundred other things, but they all add up to zero in God’s eyes if we aren’t abiding in Christ. Don’t get caught up in living by values. Live by His life. An imitation of Christ is empty religion. An expression of Christ is real Christianity. An imitation is never as good as the real thing. Don’t settle for a cheap substitute. Abide in Him!

Norm Mitchell

Good Enough for Me

Never having been one to shy away from overstating the obvious, I can authoritatively state that I’m pretty critical of religion.  For the last two and one half years, this blog has been primarily dedicated to dismantling the lies and the walls of religion, and encouraging people to seek God outside the guilt, coercion, dogma, the formulaic programs, and the depressing, corporate environment of religion.

I grew up in a very Fundamentalist Christian environment.  Like all religions or denominations, it had a compelling narrative—as long as you didn’t dare to question its inconsistencies.  I want to be clear, that there were many wonderful people who subscribed to the narrative.  I in no way want to demean them or portray them as anything less than kind, loving, honest, and sincere.  My charges are not leveled at those people, but at the system and those who exploit it for personal gain.

Almost 25 years ago, I had the extreme good fortune to have been involuntarily pulled out of the religious environment and unwittingly pushed into a journey of discovery.  Upon attempting reentry into institutional religion some 13 years later, I was shocked at how religion revealed itself to be hideous and oppressive.  I’ve been accused of throwing the baby out with the bathwater—of seeing a handful of bad institutions and lumping all the good institutions in with them.  But it’s not just the handful of exploiters that ruined a good thing for everyone else.  It’s the well intentioned people that create artificial, hierarchical systems and portray them as the only means by which people may encounter God that forge the majority of the chains.  To expand upon the metaphor, the bathwater is disgusting, but the baby is the bigger and more insidious problem.

Examining religious structures from an objective viewpoint has left me irate and disgusted at the illogic and the blind superstition of religion and the vitriol with which those characteristics are vehemently defended.  But cursing the darkness without shining the light is no way to go through life.  I realize that merely lashing out in anger is purely destructive.  It’s not God’s way, and if the walls of religion are detrimental and divisive, then walls built by hostility must be at least as detrimental.  So I struggle to keep my ire and sarcasm in check when discussing religion and its damaging effects.

You see, as a child growing up in a very zealous religious system, I was introduced to the bible.  I was introduced to religious practice.  I was introduced to the Fundamentalist narrative.  I was introduced to doctrine and polity.  But I was never introduced to God.

I was introduced to a caricature of God.  A caricature of a vengeful, schizophrenic God that was based on a purely academic approach to a set of writings which was viewed as a formula that must be deciphered and followed maniacally in order to appease an angry God.

I don’t expect to change the mind of anyone who is wedded to their religion.  That’s ok.  My message is not for them.  My message is for the disenfranchised—those who have been hurt by people who wield religion like a weapon or left feeling empty because of religion’s vacuous and impotent promises.

My message is for those who recognize the religious smoke screen for what it is.  It is for those who see the detrimental effects of religion but haven’t yet discovered the Way.  It is for those whose doubts are dismissed as a lack of faith and whose disagreement with the narrative is met with ridicule and ostracism.  It is for those who seek deeper relationships with God and other people but are offered only programs and rituals.

My desire is to help those people to understand that they are not crazy, that they do not have to feel guilty for questioning nonsensical dogma, and that God is not angry at them for doubting the narrative.  I am convinced that if they could simply get a glimpse of the overwhelming love that God has for them, they would be changed forever.

When you get a glimpse of that love, it makes you want to seek it at the expense of everything else.  It sets you free and launches you on a journey of discovery.  You slip the shackles of religion and venture into the unknown.  You realize that there is no formula.  There is no pat answer to the mysteries of the ages but rather an infinite wealth of wonder to be mined by those who have the tenacity to keep digging.

There is no psychological padded room of religion to shield you from the fear and the doubt and the sorrow.  But.  There is that glimpse of unconquerable love that leads you ever onward into a wild and dangerous frontier.  And the relationships that develop, should you choose to build them, become torches that radiate the love of God into a suffering world that badly needs it.

And that’s good enough for me.

The Word

Over the last two millennia, the followers of Christ have evolved what was a simple way of life into an elaborate religion—complete with hierarchy and ritual.  To defend this relatively new religion against competing religions, there needed to be a hook.  It needed what people in the sales world call market differentiation.  It needed something to legitimize it as its leaders tried to accrue worldly power.  (Mind you, I’m talking about institutionalized religion—the corporation-style establishment that is considered normal today.)  They found this hook in The Canon—the agreed upon list of books that were attributed to direct authorship by God Himself.  The Christians now had the talisman that made their religion legitimate and other religions false:  they had The Word of God in written form.

So today, we have a book (a compilation, to be exact) that is the central focus of most of Christendom.  This book is treated as a sacred object.  It is treated as the formula for everything, from coping with the daily issues we face, to getting into heaven.  The vast majority of Christian religious efforts center on The Book—reading it, learning about it, gathering to listen to the pastor explain his denomination’s interpretation of its contents, and debating other denominations over its interpretation.

What John (the gospel writer) called the logos went far beyond the word “word” as we casually understand it today.  John’s understanding of logos was probably influenced by Aristotle who used logos to refer to a logical, apprehensible truth.  In Jesus, John got a glimpse of God’s intent distilled into being and made alive before human eyes.  “The Word was made flesh and lived among us, and we beheld his glory.”

To call the bible the Word of God is to significantly cheapen and undermine God’s logos—His intent, His desire, His message for mankind.  It severely limits the power and scope of the real Word of God.  It reduces the infinite to a formula.  Calling the bible the Word of God is a feeble attempt at magic—at manipulating the supernatural with ritual.  This makes for a very appealing advertisement to new recruits.  Join us.  We’ve got your ticket to heaven and the answers to all your problems here on earth.  This is why people gravitate toward religion which offers empty promises of forgiveness and atonement through formula and ritual, but which only adds to the sense of guilt and obligation.  Such religions are nothing more than artificial, manmade institutions which are incapable of delivering the one thing we really need:  reconciliation.

The answer to the human condition is simple, but like most simple things, it is not easy.  The answer—God’s desire since the beginning—is relationship.  That’s all.  But be it out of pride or shame, we have constructed elaborate religions to assuage our grief and shame and fear and guilt.  These religions take different forms, but they usually boil down to coerced acceptance of an academic theory of one sort or another.  The Christian religion is no different.  Acceptance in any particular group (and by extension, how you become acceptable to God) depends on how you view baptism.  How you view the nature of God.  How you view faith.  How you conceptualize the atonement.  It’s all based on a formulaic understanding of a particular interpretation of the bible.  The academic knowledge of religious theory has become preeminent and has completely eclipsed the most important thing of all:  relationship.

Religion forms barriers between humans, and it is an impediment to a relationship with God.  A Bible-centered religion is like reading a book on marriage over and over, looking within its pages for the formula for a good marriage.  But rather than applying the general principles and simply loving your spouse, you simply follow some prescribed steps out of a sense of obligation.  Pursuing this course will lead only to frustration for both people.

God’s word is so much more than a book.  It is not a formula.  It is not a set of rules.  It is a story.  It is a proposal.  It is a simple message that was revealed through a person, Jesus, in whom God’s heart was explicitly revealed.  God’s Logos walked this earth and lives through His followers today.  Let’s stop arguing over interpretation and academic theory and seek to know the only true and living Word.

Throwing Rotten Tomatoes at the Audience

There was a time when audience members would throw rotten tomatoes at lousy stage performers.  In Christianity, we sort of have a metaphorical reverse of that concept where the ones on the stage throw proverbial rotten tomatoes at members of the audience who dare challenge The Narrative.

Question policy?  You’re a nuisance.

Question methodology?  You’re a troublemaker.

Question doctrine?  You’re a heretic.

I am constantly confronted by the religious (particularly those of the clerical caste) about the need for, nay the duty of Christians to be loyal to the pastor and to the institution.  Now I place a high value on loyalty; but as a smart man once told me, “Loyalty comes above all else except your personal honor.”  What he meant was that loyalty doesn’t come with an intrinsic obligation to blindly support someone who is doing the wrong thing.  Yet Western Christians are so heavily invested in their religious institutions that they feel obligated and obligate others to be loyal to the institution.  This really shouldn’t be a surprise because institutional survival becomes the automatic highest priority of every institution.

This is a major reason why the Sunday “worship” performance is the central focus of every church.  This is why programs that pass themselves off as “ministries” are pushed so fervently.  This is why church marketing is so business-like.  The performance, whatever flavor it takes on, is geared toward satisfying a human need for amusement, absolution, or preferably both.  The programs are advertised to meet other needs, but offer little of substance.  The marketing effort is probably the clearest evidence of a corrupt system.  Rather than being a family, Christianity has become a religious commodity brokerage, with churches the businesses that base their success on how much of the market share they capture.

This mania for building business-style religious institutions has even led to the development of actual businesses that are geared toward church marketing.  There are even companies that “plant” churches on behalf of individuals—for a fee, of course.  I point this out because this business-model epidemic is beyond absurd.  But let’s not for one second forget that a less-commercialized religious institution is still a hierarchical, religious, human-centric, religious institution.  And the all-consuming institution unabashedly demands absolute loyalty in order to remain viable.

Although it is to be expected, I do find it funny that religious folk feel that loyalty must be compelled.  How many times have you heard expressions like these:  “You can’t love Father God if you don’t love Mother Church [Mother Church???]:”  “The pastor is the Man of God, and he deserves your support;”  or “It’s our duty to be in God’s house every week for worship”?  The list could go on and on, with those who are bound by religion clamoring most loudly for blind loyalty to the institution.  Somehow, they’ve overlooked the remote possibility that if an observer (either outsider or insider) doesn’t like the institution, perhaps the fault isn’t with the observer.

The way I see it, if you must demand loyalty, you probably don’t have anything worth being loyal to.  Yet I constantly hear those who dislike going to church for many legitimate reasons being denigrated by the religious crowd.  The “nones” or “dones” are portrayed as being rebels, malcontents, or just plain, stubborn reprobates.

Even insiders are not immune from drawing the ire of the clergy and the die-hard fans.   Churches, notorious for crushing dissent, generally take a very dim view of those who question doctrine or practice.  Whether their views are right or wrong is immaterial.  What is material is that they are challenging the institution, and that cannot be allowed.  Any dissent is met with Spirit-quenching, soul-crushing opposition.  The dissenter is cowed into silence or evicted, and the clone factories keep churning out vacuous carbon copies of Christians.

The friendly fire from those who claim to be the keepers of the truth is yet another devastating effect of the religious enterprise that uses Christ’s name as a token of authority.  As long as an institution (the building, the business, the hierarchy, the ritual, the cliquishness) takes the place of spiritual life, those who are beholden to it will continue to throw rotten tomatoes at the audience.  This is yet one more reason why those who truly desire to follow Jesus and have a beneficial effect on this world must do so outside the bounds of religion.

A Clearer View of the Bible

Over the centuries, Christians have taken the bible and elevated it to the status of God Himself.  Instead of using it as pieces of evidence—as pieces of the puzzle that help us see key parts of the infinite picture of God and the finite but incredibly complex picture of we humans, they frequently use it as an authoritative rule book to coerce others into following their dogma.

The problem with worshiping the bible is that it is incomplete and flawed.  While many Christians consider this to be heresy, it is the only honest way to view the bible.  Did God inspire the writing of at least the vast majority of its books?  I believe He did.  But using flawed humans to accomplish His purpose as He has done from the beginning results in an imperfect and incomplete picture.  Perhaps He uses us to accomplish His purposes to spur our development.  Whatever the reason, He seems to be ok with the fact that we are struggling through our imperfections.

When Christians treat the bible as if it is equal to God, they are actually harming the community of believers and presenting a severely distorted picture of God to non-believers.  The Bible-as-God’s-Word view is the root cause of most of the misinterpretation of the bible and is, I believe, the primary cause of disunity among Christians.

The need for a divinely authored sacred book as a foundation for one’s beliefs is an artificial obligation required by religion.  Those who truly seek God must move past the recorded thoughts of the ancients and seek Him in the now.  Is the Bible useful?  Absolutely!  It is a critical source of information and is most importantly, a credible record of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and teaching.  It is a record of fallible humans who sought God and a record of God’s outreach to mankind.  It forms a beautiful mosaic that reveals a portion of God’s plan of redemption and reconciliation.

Jesus frequently quoted the old testament.  But with respect to sola scriptura adherents, even Jesus (who was the clearest message God ever sent to us) didn’t view the scriptures as being sufficient for our faith and practice.  He sent God’s Holy Spirit to us to work through us—to continue the work of reconciliation and healing that Jesus began.  The Holy Spirit works in unpredictable ways through believers that are willing to let God use them.  Jesus desired that we would be unified in fellowship and purpose.  That means the catholics and the baptists and the reformed and the mennonites and the pentecostals and the non-denominationalists.  In keeping with the methods God used from the beginning, He intends all believers (not just one denomination and not just a handful of ordained clergy) to play a critical part in the development of the body and the healing of the nations.

In this video entitled “The Lectern” over at The Work of the People, Malcolm Guite shares his thoughts on how to read and interpret the bible.  The nine-minute video is well worth watching.  For me, one of the most important messages that Christians today need to hear was summed up in this quote:

If I have an interpretation [of the bible] that prevents the love of God or the love of neighbor, then I’ve got the wrong interpretation.  I don’t care how literal it is… if you’ve read it in a way that diminishes those two things that Jesus says are the meaning of the bible, then you’ve got it wrong.

Paraphrasing Martin Luther, he gives the following illustration:

The old and the new testaments are like the swaddling clothes that Mary used to wrap the baby Jesus in….  These cloths are infinitely precious because and only because they contain the living Word of God… Jesus Himself.  As they hold and bring me to Jesus… they are infinitely precious.  But if I take the baby out of them, if I have no living Word of God in there… you just have rags.

Very wise and sorely needed advice.

Mick Mooney

At some point in your faith you may come to realise the box you have stepped into to create the framework for your faith is incomplete and entirely too small.

Some choose to remain, to accept the system with all its flaws and limitations, and, in some cases, corruption; others choose to seek a wider, deeper way to understand their faith. For many, this does not mean walking away from their faith in Christ; it means exactly the opposite. To lean into his ways, his mindset, his worldview, his beliefs, we need to embrace a way of thinking and believing that is far beyond the common, institutionally-endorsed set of doctrines and dogmas.

It is not our role to judge the path of another, for how do we know it is not God’s direction that leads them in or out of religion? But we must take responsibility for our path, and follow the one that calls us—not with a voice of obligation, but with a voice of grace; with a voice of promise; with a voice of brave faith. When there is no other visible path, but the voice within tells us to turn, we must choose. To stick to the tried and trusted path, or carve out our own?

We stay along the wrong path mostly because we think it is our obligation to do so, but is it? What exactly are we obligated to? The un-endorsed path the gatekeepers of religion rage against, the path that has not been set with lights and sidewalks, the dangerous path full of uncertainty; the path that has only a divine, small lamp upon your feet, lighting not the entire journey, but just the few steps before you.

The path where you really begin to appreciate the phrase, to walk by faith.

Some never feel the urge to seek out a deeper, wider expression of their faith, but some take a course of action that is greatly misunderstood by the many within that small, incomplete box of faith they have become accustomed to.

Maybe some well get to the end of that tried and trusted path and look back with regret, wishing they had listened to that still, small voice that was calling them to carve out their own path all along.

For those daring souls carving out your own path, keep going; keep following your brave heart; keep up the faith. You’re on track. You’re not alone. There are a great many more explorers of faith all around you.

Remember, this life of faith is meant to be daring adventure.

by Mick Mooney

Jesus didn’t get a reputation amongst the religious as a ‘glutton and a drunk, a friend of tax collectors and sinners‘ because of what he taught, but because he lived what he taught.

He drank with drunks. He danced with prostitutes. He dinned with people of low character.

Now, that doesn’t mean he got drunk, or did anything more than dance with a prostitute, or did more than dine with dodgy characters–but neither did he care to ‘explain’ these things to the religious men he knew were watching, and he knew were judging, and he knew were coming to their own conclusions.

Basically, Jesus simply did not care about his reputation amongst the religious. What he cared about was LOVE. He cared about PEOPLE. He cared about the communal experience of life. He cared passionately about the things all of us cared passionately, and he didn’t care at all about the thing none of us should care at all about.

So the religious will discount you if you love people the religious say are unlovable, and you befriend people the religious say are off limits, and you party harder than the religious deem allowable for a person of faith. So what?

So the religious will come to their own faulty conclusions about your character, so what? So you’ll be slandered as a drunk, or a glutton, or a friend of sinners, or you’ll be slandered as the chief of sinner, or this or that, but seriously, so what?

If it is only slander. If you know they have reached the wrong conclusions. If You know their view of you is rubbish, then so what if they think it?

It’s a paradox, a real religious mind bender, but I’ll tell you this: A successful life of faith, in the footsteps of Jesus, looks a lot like the life of sinner in the eyes of the religious.

Life will get you dirty. Jesus was a big believer in getting dirty. Go on, be Christ like, do likewise. Jump into a life of relationship, of generosity, of genuine friendship, of experience, of care for people from all corners of society…. ‘but what will they think? What will they say of me? What will they misunderstand?’ These questions you can’t answer, so a better question to ask is ‘Why do I care what they think, or say of me, or misunderstand?’ Jesus didn’t care. Why should you?

Go on, risk your religiously clean reputation. Live a life of love. Make connections. Build relationships. Embrace the world around you.

Get busy living.

by Mick Mooney

Jesus did more than save the world. He came to stand up to all the religious bullies standing behind their pulpits and holy robes, obsessed with twisting the God of love into some kind of mental case.

He came to publicly go on record, talking openly while making his claims, that God does not consider it acceptable behavior for anyone to harass, suppress and abuse people because one has a position inside a religious institution or some kind of religious title before their name.

He came to be a light for all who were living in the darkness of the abusive and manipulative tactics of those in powerful positions in religious institutions. He declared: “Come follow me, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” But to the religious leaders he declared: “And you experts in the Bible, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.”

The only thing that gets God mad, from what we see in the account of Jesus’ ministry, is thinking one can judge and condemn others–and place a heavy burden upon them–because they believe they are some kind of divine mediator for God on earth.

In the gospel accounts we see that Jesus’ finger was never pointed at those with moral sins. The only time Jesus pointed his finger in judgement, was when it was pointed at those who thought the whole population of earth was theirs to look down upon to correct and condemn.

Jesus came to show us what makes God mad, and it isn’t the prostitutes, and it isn’t the unbelievers–it’s the religious leaders who want to use God’s name to put heavy burdens on the backs of God’s children. Jesus came to liberate us from sin, but his desire for our freedom did not end there. He also came to liberate us from becoming enslaved to all the religious bullies in the world.

By Mick Mooney

When Jesus turned up to start his public ministry, he picked a bunch of teenagers and a few young men from the poorest, most mocked at part of the country, and even threw in a tax collector that the whole nation despised.

He openly befriended woman, even the most despised in the eyes of his own nation, the Samaritan woman and the prostitutes. He drank alcohol liberally with those society looked down upon, much too liberally for the religious folks of the day, causing him to be branded a ‘glutton and a drunkard’.

He publicly exalted the woman who followed him, at times pointing out how they understood the truth about God, while also pointing out the failure of the men, both the Pharisees and his own disciples, to understand the reality of his ministry and the true character of God.

He consistently stood on the side of those society looked down upon, and lifted them up, highly exalted. Time and time again, he showed those who were exalted in society-by wealth, or title, or nationality- that those they pitied were the very ones greatly blessed. Blessed, for while they may be looked down upon by men, they were not looked down upon by God. Rather, they were as equal as everyone else in God’s eyes.

In every way, Jesus went against the grain of the strongly established social, cultural and religious prejudices. And in doing so he broke this awful yoke off the neck of all who wanted to be set free from it. The yoke of the social, cultural and religious falsehood that measures people, that pushes people down, that keeps rank, that keeps count. That separates. That rejects. That oppresses. That disqualifies.

Jesus showed us all by his life, and also by his death, that there is no outcast in God’s eyes. There is no unclean. There is no lesser sex. There is no lesser color. There is no lesser race. There is no lesser human being.

by Mick Mooney

Jesus didn’t get a reputation amongst the religious as a ‘glutton and a drunk, a friend of tax collectors and sinners‘ because of what he taught, but because he lived what he taught.

He drank with drunks. He danced with prostitutes. He dinned with people of low character.

Now, that doesn’t mean he got drunk, or did anything more than dance with a prostitute, or did more than dine with dodgy characters–but neither did he care to ‘explain’ these things to the religious men he knew were watching, and he knew were judging, and he knew were coming to their own conclusions.

Basically, Jesus simply did not care about his reputation amongst the religious. What he cared about was LOVE. He cared about PEOPLE. He cared about the communal experience of life. He cared passionately about the things all of us cared passionately, and he didn’t care at all about the thing none of us should care at all about.

So the religious will discount you if you love people the religious say are unlovable, and you befriend people the religious say are off limits, and you party harder than the religious deem allowable for a person of faith. So what?

So the religious will come to their own faulty conclusions about your character, so what? So you’ll be slandered as a drunk, or a glutton, or a friend of sinners, or you’ll be slandered as the chief of sinner, or this or that, but seriously, so what?

If it is only slander. If you know they have reached the wrong conclusions. If You know their view of you is rubbish, then so what if they think it?

It’s a paradox, a real religious mind bender, but I’ll tell you this: A successful life of faith, in the footsteps of Jesus, looks a lot like the life of sinner in the eyes of the religious.

Life will get you dirty. Jesus was a big believer in getting dirty. Go on, be Christ like, do likewise. Jump into a life of relationship, of generosity, of genuine friendship, of experience, of care for people from all corners of society…. ‘but what will they think? What will they say of me? What will they misunderstand?’ These questions you can’t answer, so a better question to ask is ‘Why do I care what they think, or say of me, or misunderstand?’ Jesus didn’t care. Why should you?

Go on, risk your religiously clean reputation. Live a life of love. Make connections. Build relationships. Embrace the world around you.

Get busy living.

Why Jesus Wants You to Give Up Judging Others — and Embrace a Graceful Mindset

A lot of people have talked about the gospel over the ages. They’ve been preaching, proclaiming and discussing it for 2000 years, through every generation. The discussion initially starts around the act of first receiving the gospel, and then inevitably how to outlive it. In the majority of cases, the common advice revolves around external actions. It becomes about behavior modification.

Yet, the reality of the gospel, and how we can truly live out the gospel, as I understand it, is not about behavior modification, but inner transformation; it’s not about avoiding drinking, or drugs, or prostitution, or foul language; it’s not about how you dress, or where you live, how much money you donate, or how many prayers you recite. It’s about avoiding just one thing: judging others.

Living in line with the gospel truth is not about slapping the external self on the wrist when naughty, or patting the external self on the back when good. It’s about the freedom available to your inner person. And to experience that freedom, you do not need to monitor how you act, you need to monitor how you think. Because it is in your thoughts that we develop either grace for others, or judgement for others. In the mind, we either (rightly) side step the option of judging the motives of others, or we (wrongly) embrace that option and let it consume us.

It comes down to this: If you choose to judge others’ motives and actions, that choice has consequences for you personally, because the act of judging is sticky. We like to think it is like a rock we can righteously throw at the one we deem guilty. But judgement is not like a rock, it’s more like a pot of glue. When you decide to judge another, you are putting your fist in that pot, and although you intend to throw it at the one you are judging, it does not reach them; instead, it sticks to you.

Jesus said,

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

I think the majority of people think Jesus was talking about God judging those who choose to judge others. But I don’t believe Jesus was referring to God—he was talking about you.

Jesus was alluding to the way the mind works, the way it has been designed to achieve freedom for you. And that design is about the way you think. Extend grace, and the mind will reward you likewise, and you will naturally find you have a large quantity of grace for yourself. Judge others, and the mind will hound you on your own inadequacies and failings, and you will be consumed with self-condemnation.

True freedom, the freedom promised by God and made available to all through Christ, is one that starts and ends in our minds. Avoid the poison of judging others, and you’ll avoid poisoning your own mental, spiritual and emotional state. Give grace to others in your thinking (for our thoughts are our secret place, and only we can see if we are graceful of judgmental towards others within our mind), and your mind will open up to the abundant provision of grace available for yourself.

The Apostle Paul said: “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” It’s good advice, for the freedom God has stored up for you, as part of the promise he has offered, is yours when you align your mind, and the thoughts that you develop within your mind, to the reality of the gospel. Do that, and watch the Kingdom of God flourish within yourself, for as Jesus said, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”

The Kingdom of God is within you. Avoid judging others. Chase after the opportunities to extend grace. Think in line with the Kingdom, watch it first light up your own inner world, and over time, overflow into the world around you.

Leaving the Religious Program and Entering into Life

One of the dangers with religion is it can so easily fool you into believing you’re living your life, when in fact all you are doing is going round and round in circles, doing the same thing week in, week out, talking to the same people, speaking with the same language, talking about the same things.

There is a whole world of random and wonderful people and things to experience, but until you give yourself the liberty to live your life free from the trappings of religion, the danger is that you end up just doing what is comfortable, what is endorsed by the church leaders, what is already programmed for you.

I think Jesus broke this mold, this religious idea of life, and stepped fully into the reality of life around him. He got out and lived his life with people, all kinds of people. Not as a missionary or holy roller, but as a friend, as a fellow adventurer in life—as an equal.

In the gospels we read how Jesus was always around people. He had a life full of relationships. Always talking, drinking, eating, relaxing; sometimes entertaining his guests and sometimes being entertained by them. What is fascinating is that these relationships were not based on these people holding to the same theology and doctrines as Jesus did. In fact, it’s safe to say that none of them believed like Jesus did. Yet he was always in the company of people, and these connections became very deep and heart felt relationships.

It seems to me that if we truly want a life full of loving relationships, we need to care less about what doctrines or world views people believe and more about the actual person. When we let our love for others be what unites us, we begin to have a life full of meaningful relationships.

Seeking out relationships or fellowship based on doctrinal agreements is a sad and ineffective substitute for love. What we need to do is choose the more divine way. The way that allows love to be what unites us to others, for that, I honestly believe, is the way of Christ.

Theology is interesting, fascinating, in fact. I spend a great deal of my life pondering it. But the theology we share and expound upon is still just a clanging gong in the ears of people if it does not first inspire our lives to actively transcend the social, racial, political, and religious boundaries around us, and to live a life of love. This, I believe, Jesus modeled. I don’t need to give you examples, just read through the gospels, you see it all for yourself if you’re looking for it.

Jesus knew God better than anyone, yet he did not live with his thoughts always stuck in Bible verses and theological studies. Rather, he was present in the moment, right there, happily engaged with a diverse variety of people and enjoying their company.

It was precisely because he knew God better than anyone that allowed him to truly live in the moment. He valued the interaction of people, of all people, and it did not depend on what kind of people they were, or what kind of theology they held, of what kind of social standing they had.

What does this show me? It shows me that I need to be careful I don’t become more in love with Bible verses and theological musings then I am with the people in my everyday life. It shows me the real value of knowing God is seeing the divine value of connecting with and loving the people around me.

It shows me that I don’t have to be a religiously sanitized person to be approved by God. Rather, I need to fully embrace my oneness with God to the point that I don’t mind getting messy if I happen to be in the presence of a messy person; more than that, it has allowed me to accept that I am a messy person, that parts of my character are flawed and parts of my personality awkward…and that’s just fine. I realize more and more that the value is not in my appearance or reputation, but in interactions I have with others, genuine connections, where I can feel my heart is fully alive.

Do You Have Eyes Like Jesus?

Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?” John 9:40

Jesus once asked his disciples: “Do you have eyes, but fail to see?” They didn’t know how to respond. I don’t blame them, it’s a hard question to answer. He also talked a lot about the religious leaders in society being blind. This is also interesting because the Pharisees, being the most outspoken in the religious community, surely thought they had better spiritual eyesight than anyone; so good they could see every sin in the world. They were experts in seeing the sinner in the crowd. Perhaps that was the very thing that caused them to be blind?

When Jesus interacted the people of his day, he didn’t see ‘sinners.’ Rather, he saw individuals, real-life and valuable individuals. He saw the person. He identified with people, enjoyed their company, ate and drank with them. They were not thought of as sinners. They were considered his friends. That’s a big difference.

“The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.” Matthew 11:19

When Jesus was invited to dinner in the house of a prominent Pharisee named Simon, their dinner was interrupted by a woman, so touched by her interactions with Jesus that she fell to his feet and covered them with tears, and wiped them with her hair. What did Simon see? He didn’t see what God wanted him to see. He was blind to the very work of God. Simon’s perspective was this:

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is — that she is a sinner.” Luke 7:39

Simon didn’t see the woman. Rather, he put her in a predefined category in his mind labeled: ‘sinner’. That label allowed him to cast his judgement upon her without consulting his heart, or the heart of God.

But Jesus was different. He didn’t see the religiously unacceptable lifestyle, he saw the woman. He saw the true person, not the pain and corruption that life had pulled her into. He saw the child. He saw the one he came to rescue. The woman, now set free, was overflowing with thankfulness. Heaven was erupting with joy and dancing. God was rejoicing — but Simon missed the whole thing. Jesus asked him: “Do you see this woman?”

Jesus’ words ring in my heart all the time. I think the same question can be applied to all of us: “Do you see this woman? Do you see this man? Do you see them with love? Do you see them as the very reason Jesus came? Do you see God’s plan for restoration?”

It’s easy to see the sinner, because that requires no heart interaction, but do you see the person? Do you see the value of every individual, like Jesus did?

Simon, the Pharisee who was the host of the party, was blind to the miracle. He had eyes, but he couldn’t see. He only saw the sinner, he saw what he considered an unholy life, but he didn’t see what truly counted; he couldn’t see the unfailing love God had for this woman. He couldn’t see the acceptance Jesus offered her. He couldn’t see how it was grace, not judgement, that had led this woman into freedom. He missed it all, because what he saw was a ‘sinner’. What he was blind to was the transaction that had happened in this woman’s heart through the love and kindness of God.

The crowds were amazed at how Jesus multiplied a few loaves of bread into a feast for 5,000 people by the miracle hand of God, but the woman who cried at the feet of Jesus, washing his feet with tears of joy, was far more amazed at how Jesus transformed her heart through an authentic interaction with his love and grace.

When we see people the way Jesus sees them, then we truly do see. Love is the eyesight of God. Love is his way. Rescue, salvation, reconciliation and new life is God’s agenda. For Jesus came not to condemn the world, but to save the world through himself.

The gospel is called good news. What’s so good about it? It’s good news because Jesus saves, he loves, and, thankfully, he sees us all.

Leaving the Religious Program and Entering into Life

One of the dangers with religion is it can so easily fool you into believing you’re living your life, when in fact all you are doing is going round and round in circles, doing the same thing week in, week out, talking to the same people, speaking with the same language, talking about the same things.

There is a whole world of random and wonderful people and things to experience, but until you give yourself the liberty to live your life free from the trappings of religion, the danger is that you end up just doing what is comfortable, what is endorsed by the church leaders, what is already programmed for you.

I think Jesus broke this mold, this religious idea of life, and stepped fully into the reality of life around him. He got out and lived his life with people, all kinds of people. Not as a missionary or holy roller, but as a friend, as a fellow adventurer in life—as an equal.

In the gospels we read how Jesus was always around people. He had a life full of relationships. Always talking, drinking, eating, relaxing; sometimes entertaining his guests and sometimes being entertained by them. What is fascinating is that these relationships were not based on these people holding to the same theology and doctrines as Jesus did. In fact, it’s safe to say that none of them believed like Jesus did. Yet he was always in the company of people, and these connections became very deep and heart felt relationships.

It seems to me that if we truly want a life full of loving relationships, we need to care less about what doctrines or world views people believe and more about the actual person. When we let our love for others be what unites us, we begin to have a life full of meaningful relationships.

Seeking out relationships or fellowship based on doctrinal agreements is a sad and ineffective substitute for love. What we need to do is choose the more divine way. The way that allows love to be what unites us to others, for that, I honestly believe, is the way of Christ.

Theology is interesting, fascinating, in fact. I spend a great deal of my life pondering it. But the theology we share and expound upon is still just a clanging gong in the ears of people if it does not first inspire our lives to actively transcend the social, racial, political, and religious boundaries around us, and to live a life of love. This, I believe, Jesus modeled. I don’t need to give you examples, just read through the gospels, you see it all for yourself if you’re looking for it.

Jesus knew God better than anyone, yet he did not live with his thoughts always stuck in Bible verses and theological studies. Rather, he was present in the moment, right there, happily engaged with a diverse variety of people and enjoying their company.

It was precisely because he knew God better than anyone that allowed him to truly live in the moment. He valued the interaction of people, of all people, and it did not depend on what kind of people they were, or what kind of theology they held, of what kind of social standing they had.

What does this show me? It shows me that I need to be careful I don’t become more in love with Bible verses and theological musings then I am with the people in my everyday life. It shows me the real value of knowing God is seeing the divine value of connecting with and loving the people around me.

It shows me that I don’t have to be a religiously sanitized person to be approved by God. Rather, I need to fully embrace my oneness with God to the point that I don’t mind getting messy if I happen to be in the presence of a messy person; more than that, it has allowed me to accept that I am a messy person, that parts of my character are flawed and parts of my personality awkward…and that’s just fine. I realize more and more that the value is not in my appearance or reputation, but in interactions I have with others, genuine connections, where I can feel my heart is fully alive.

Where Is God?

I asked myself this question not long ago: Where is God? Not ideas about God. Not biblical explanations about God. But WHERE IS GOD? Where can we find him, feel him, and see him?

The answer that I discovered is this: To experience God with our physical senses, we need to seek him in a place that is not physical; not in a building or in a book, but rather in a spiritual yet divine place. That place is love. The Bible says in I John 4:16 that “God is Love.” And because He is love, we can find Him in genuine, loving friendships. Seek these relationships and you will find God there. Offer genuine  loving friendships and you’ll reveal God to others.

God is not discovered in the theories and theologies we talk about so often. The technicalities, doubtful. The head-knowledge, probably not. But we can discover God in the hands-on experience in the practical real-life relationships that we build. When we build them with love, every time we meet one another, we stand in the presence of God’s love.

You will not find God in a program. You will not find God in building. God is not in a financial offering. God is not a pastor or a pastor’s vision. God is not a ministry and God is not a service. We have to go back again to what the Bible says about God, “God is Love.” If you want to put God first in your life, you will have to put love first. Put the way you love your family, your friends, your neighbors first in your life. Let love, in its active form, be first in your life. Do that and you’ll always be putting God first, for “God is Love.”

I John 4:7-8 says, “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is Love.”

God is Love and love is God. The two are the same spirit at work in the world. You cannot separate them, for they are perfectly the same entity. Every time someone loves another person, that is God demonstrated in the flesh. Every time someone is moved to help another person, that is God’s love in action. Every time someone chooses to lay their life down for another person, that is God’s love in the highest form. God is the Spirit that is moving people to do these beautiful heart-action things that we know as love. If you do none of these things, then you do not really know God.

Coming to the place where you fully accept that God is love results in breaking the mold that religion has made to put God in. It liberates you by pulling down the boundaries previously set up for God to work in. Of course it is impossible to control God or limit him. Impossible. But many Christians, churches, and pastors try to do this. God is ALMIGHTY and ALL POWERFUL and does as He wills. When we try to limit God we are actually limiting ourselves because we do not allow God’s love work in and through us. But . . . . when we surrender ourselves to His love, we become completely free . . .  and there we will find God.

New Covenant Grace

Are Christians lawless without the law of Moses?

Jesus predicted that lawlessness in the last days will abound, leading to that “the love of many will grow cold” (Mt. 24:12). Some who oppose so called “grace message”, use this scripture to warn about the consequences of teaching that Christians are not bound by the law of Moses today.

Thereby it is relevant to ask: Are Christians lawless without the law of Moses? “Absolutely”, many who oppose the grace message would say.

Before I respond to this, I first want to point out that we are not “without” the law of Moses today in the sense that the law of Moses can still be found in our Bibles. Anyone who wants to get inspiration for holy living from the law Moses is free to enjoy it any time of the day, although I highly doubt this would lead to any good and lasting results.

However, in the new covenant we are not under, or bound by, the law of Moses. “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes”, Paul said (Rom. 10:4). The law was never intended for us who are Gentile Christians; it was only given to the Jewish people for a limited time period, starting with Moses at mount Sinai and ending with Jesus at mount Golgatha. Jesus fulfilled the law so that no one, neither Jew nor Gentile, would ever have to live under it again.

But this does not make us lawless. The point with the new covenant was that God was going to write His own laws in our hearts and minds. This takes place whenever someone gets born-again, by believing in Jesus and confessing His as Lord.

16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” 17 then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” (Heb. 10:16-17)

The law of Moses was indeed holy and righteous and served to show mankind what was sinful, but could never help anyone overcome sin. On the contrary, the very purpose of the law was to strengthen sin and make it abound, to show us that we all, without Christ, are sinners in need of a Savior.

The law of Moses was actually totally counterproductive when it comes to making people live a holy life. Paul says in Romans:

7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.”  8 But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. 9 I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. 10 And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. 11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. (Rom. 7:7-11)

From these verses we can conclude that the law of Moses did not lead to less sin; it actually made sin increase! But thank God, what the law could not accomplish Jesus did in us! Once we are born-again, God writes his law in our hearts. He gives us a new and righteous nature on the inside. The key of living holy is not trying to live after the law of Moses, but to live in a continual love-relationship with Jesus Christ.

The law of Moses did not lead to less sin, it made sin abound

Laws and paragraphs might be able modify our outward behavior temporarily, but cannot permanently change our hearts. Only God’s unconditional love can transform us, inside out.

What group of people did Jesus treat most harshly during His time on earth? The scribes and pharisees, who were the “experts” of trying to keep the law of Moses. Obviously, the law could not produce the righteousness it in itself demanded. On the contrary, the law produced a self-righteousness and hardness in the hearts of those who most eagerly tried to keep it. This self-righteousness and hardness of heart was obviously more offensive to Jesus than what was in the hearts of people who openly lived in sin without trying to be hypocritical about it. Thereby one could argue that the most lawless people during the days of Jesus’ earthly ministry were… not the prostitutes nor the publicans, but the legalists!

Is the law of Moses necessary for us to avoid sin? Consider Joseph during his time in captivity. When Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him, he refrained from sleeping with her because he knew that doing so would have been sinning – not only against Potiphar, but also against God! Note that this took place before the law of Moses had been given on mount Sinai. The 10 commandments, including “Thou shall not commit adultery” and “Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s wife”, did not yet exist. What was it that gave Joseph the strength to overcome this temptation at a moment when he, from a human point of view, had every right to be angry with God because of the suffering he had gone through? What was if that made him understand that sleeping with Potiphar’s wife would have been a sin, although there was no commandment saying “Thou shalt not sleep with thy neighbor’s wife”? What refrained him? Without question his close love-relationship with God.

The fact that we today, in the new covenant, are not living under the law of Moses, does not mean we are “lawless”, or without any law whatsoever. God himself has written his own law in our hearts, and Jesus gave us a new commandment which is applicable for us who are believers in the new covenant; the commandment of love, also called the “law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2).

The new covenant believer has a new heart and lives under the law of love, and is thus not lawless!

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. (Jn. 13:34)

If we walk in love we will not live a life of sin. Love is the fulfillment of the law (Gal. 5:14). Note that we are to love others as Christ has loved us. The starting point of us walking and acting in love is thus that we get a revelation of God’s great and unconditional love for us!

Jim Palmer

Christians often use the phrase, “Christianity is not a religion but a relationship.” However, over the years I have counseled with countless Christians who are disheartened and feel shame because they were not able to get a “relationship with God” to work the way they were told it should be.

In my view, telling people that a person can relate and interact with God like two human beings interact and relate to one another, is untrue, misleading and damaging.

I cannot, for example, relate to or interact with animals, the stars, flowers, music, or the sunset in the exact same way I relate to or interact with my best friend. I would think it would be patently obvious that two human beings interacting and relating could not be replicated by one human being interacting with a non-material reality. This possibility is held out in Theism in which God is presented as a person-like being, and expressed through anthropomorphism in the Bible. Yet the Bible says God is spirit.

People report having all kinds of different religious and spiritual experiences, but it’s a whole other thing to tell people that they “should” be able to relate to and interact with “God” in the same way they might relate to a significant other, and how this is the litmus test for true Christianity/spirituality. I have seen the harm this mentality has done in people’s lives.

I enjoy and find deep meaning in the different ways I relate to life in all its many different expressions. Our religious and spiritual experiences are unique to each of us, and we shouldn’t afflict people with our should’s. God isn’t a “papa” in the same way as an earthly father, the Holy Spirit is not your “lover,” and Jesus is not your “boyfriend.”

And that’s okay.

An alternative is to open oneself to deeply meaningful and profound experiences of love, serenity, peace, comfort, connection and belonging along the everyday paths of life. These can be felt through everyday experiences if a person is present and open to them in any given moment.

I have found that the source of love, peace and wholeness is not a supernatural human-like religious God up in the sky who comes to me in the form of an interpersonal relationship. Instead, I have found that the most sacred, divine, deeply meaningful and profound experiences I have, come to me as a natural part of my human experience. Jesus himself blurred the lines between what is “divine” and what is “human.” He said he was both simultaneously. Whatever “God” is or could be, it’s not a religious compartment or located in some being up in the sky or separate from my experiences as a human being.

The possibility of these experiences is always available, and the deciding factor has to do with my openness, and awareness of how life comes to me in the present moment. Having said that, we can get carried away with some elaborate explanation about how to “be present in the moment.” It’s not that complicated. We can also falsely assume that life should be one love or serenity experience after another. That’s not real. Life is also sadness, sorrow, hardship and difficulty. They are also the human moments that shape and deepen us.

John Pavlovitz

Relax Christian, You Don’t Have to Go to Church

Today is Sunday, and millions of people all over the world will find themselves in local churches today, participating in worship services and Bible studies and age-based ministries, and finding great encouragement and community and joy there.

You might well be one of those people.

But you might not.

For a billions reasons; either because you’ve been excluded or damaged or made to feel unwelcome, or because your faith is shaken or your pain is too great or your heart is too weary, you might find yourself outside the walls of a church.

It’s okay, God is there too—I promise you.

Most of us have grown up believing that the Church was a building, and that you went to worship as a weekly activity. Faith and life and spiritual growth were all about getting to that building, because that building was where your encountered God.

That is only partially true.

But the greater, far more glorious truth dear friend, is that you are the Church; that God is all around and ever-present and within you. And so wherever you find yourself this morning, that ground is holy. When your mind and heart are oriented toward the things of God, your very life is an act of worship.

This Sunday:

You may be snuggled in your bed with your family and dog, telling stories and giggling away the morning.

You may be jogging with your best friend through the wooded paths just coming to life in the early morning sun.

You may be driving through the empty back roads with the roof open, blasting the 80’s metal that reminds you of when you had hair for the breeze to blow through.

You might be in the garden, your knees pressed to the damp soil, smelling the leaves just popping up through the ground.

These places are all sacred.

They are waiting sanctuaries for God to be seen and heard and experienced.

They are common cathedrals, fully saturated with the presence of the Divine.

Church-less Sundays can bring a great deal of guilt, especially if you grew up in organized religion. When you find your spiritual life being defined outside of the local church, you can tend to feel like you’re doing it wrong, or that the experience is somehow counterfeit—less spiritual. You either hear an alarm go of in your own head, or from well-meaning church friends or from pushy pastors that you need to get back to church.

Well, you may and you may not.

You may just need to stay right where you are.

For many people, because of the struggles we mentioned above, organized religion is the very barrier they need to overcome to get closer proximity to Jesus. It is the thing that most hinders their pursuit of peace. It actually creates unrest within them. And in this way, for those people, “church” is the wrong answer to the question of “How do I grow spiritually?”

If you can’t or won’t find your way into a brick and mortar building this Sunday, be encouraged. You can fully love God without going to church. Obviously community is one of the ways we blossom. As we navigate relationships, as we love and seek love, as we give and receive compassion, mercy, forgiveness, and kindness—we grow in ways we never would otherwise. There is value in sharing life with other people who are seeking to be the best version of themselves. But these opportunities are not confined to the church building, waiting for you to show up and receive them there.

God is always close by and easily accessible. Divinity often comes disguised as ordinary days, uneventful moments, and typical conversations: making breakfast with your kids, playing with your dog, getting a rare quiet pause with your teenager, reading a book you love, sleeping in because you’re completely exhausted, catching up with an old friend over coffee. These can all be rich, beautiful, faith-affirming experiences that do more for your soul than an hour worship service ever could.

Everything God has for you is available to you right where you are; in the woods, in bed, at the game, having coffee with your spouse, pruning the flowers, driving down the Interstate.

These can be the places you fully commune with God and with God’s people; where you reflect and pray and learn and study and mediate and feel gratitude and seek guidance. Anything we do that is intentionally done with an awareness of God and others—that is Church.

There may be a time in the near future when you once again find your home in a local church community. But you might also never get back there again. And either way, your faith can be rich and real and fully life-giving.

Christianity isn’t a building or an hour-long Sunday morning activity. It’s you living with a desire to reflect Jesus.

Wherever you find yourself this Sunday, do this as best you can. God is with you—and it is all good stuff.

Why This Christian Doesn’t Need a Perfect Bible

Either the Bible is true or it isn’t.

Chances are if you’ve spent any time in church or engaged in religious debate with a Christian, you’ve encountered this sentence in one form or another. It’s the premise that the Bible is an all-or-nothing proposition; either inerrant and without blemish—or useless. This idea often surfaces during some moment of theological dissonance and succeeds in immediately pushing people to opposite poles, demanding that they go all-in with a flawless, mistake-free text, or be dismissed as hard-hearted heretics.

I understand why so many Christians desire a perfect Bible. Life is frightening and unpredictable and painful. We so want the simplicity and certainty that kind of Bible would provide. If we believe that there exists somewhere a massive transcript of Divine dictation; “God’s Clear Answer Book”, then life becomes apparently simple: When in doubt, just read the Bible.

Our ability to make a decision or to have peace or to navigate the world as “proper Christians”, all becomes contingent upon us “properly understanding” the supposed clear, irreducible truth of God’s Word. And since no two of us can agree completely on what that truth is or means, this makes such a task largely subjective. Regardless of our best intentions, we all end up making the Scriptures yield to our biases and agendas; clinging tightly to those parts which reinforce our beliefs, discarding those which prove problematic. Some passages we decide are literal directives, while others a product of their cultural context, demanding nuance. This is equally true of the most Progressive and Conservative believers despite the latter’s claims otherwise.

I’ve long ago given up the need for a Bible without error or blemish. I believe the Scriptures to be the work of the hands of a faithful, earnest, striving Humanity seeking to understand, know, and honor God in the place and time in which they lived and documented life. The writers and believers then (just as in these days), bring that flawed humanness to their endeavors no matter how greatly seeking to avoid it. And yet then as now, we can read and hear their words, and find truth and life within them in spite of and because of it. The writings don’t need to be inerrant or devoid of the preferences and personalities of their authors to powerfully illuminate God for us. They were the writer’s truths, and that is enough, because we can find ourselves in that same story.

For example, our Christian tradition recognizes the words of the Apostle Paul, a missionary pastor as sacred canon, comprising much of the New Testament. We are asked to believe that his words are all fully “God’s words”, yet nowhere in Paul’s writings does he claim that God is commandeering his faculties; that he is at all ceasing to be fully Paul as he writes. Further, in his letter to the Church in Rome, Paul offers that the “same Spirit” that raised Jesus from the dead is at work within those who believe. If this is true then, we are given the same Spirit-stuff that Paul was given. We cannot accurately determine a hierarchy in the way that God is revealed in God’s people, so deciding that Paul is somehow more Spirit filled than say Billy Graham or C.S. Lewis or Teresa of Avila or your pastor or even you—seems an impossible and worthless task.

The Rabbis of Biblical times (of which Jesus was one), made it their life’s calling, debating and examining the text and applying it to life. It was not for them, the downloading of the same precise information, but the act of seeking deeper revelation of God in community, using the Scriptures as a place to gather. We should not be afraid to do the same.

Everything is saturated with the presence of the Divine. In this way, everything and everyone contains some truth of the reality of God. The only way that the Bible could be completely true, is the same way anything or anyone could be: because it has a single true source.

We don’t require perfection in any other experience of creation, and yet we still are able to recognize a perfect God reflected in all of it:

The most brilliant diamond is still flawed,
the most vivid sunset still contains impurities,
the most moving piece of music still carrying an imprecise note,
the most compassionate person still marred by selfishness.

None of these things are without blemish but they still testify beautifully. They still do their perfect work of awakening us to something greater.

The Bible is a sprawling library of sixty-six books, created by dozens of writers over thousands of years, made of every type of literature created in a myriad of cultural contexts. The hundreds of thousands of words comprising these books do not need to be inerrant to be edifying or encouraging or inspiring or to speak to us. They do not need to be inerrant to expose some of the infinite facets of the Divine. They do not need to be perfect to help to know and seek after a very perfect God.

If we can acknowledge these things about the Bible, we will resist making an idol of it, we will be less likely to wield it like a weapon against those we disagree with, and we will have greater humility as we read it, holding our own interpretation loosely. We will invariably be more open to the Spirit moving as it pleases.

Something wonderful happened when I stopped needing the Bible to be perfect: I could love it again. Rather than agonizing over some elusive needle-in-a-haystack truth in every world, I could open it up and read it as the adventure of my flawed but faithful ancestors; earlier chapters of a story I am now living in. I stopped needing it to be God, and allowed it simply to help me on my journey toward God.

I believe this God alone to be true. Everything else in this world is somewhat less true—even the Bible.

I’m a Christian and I’m okay with that.

Secession From The Church
(To Those Who Stay Home On Sundays)

“Church isn’t for me anymore.”

I know those words so well, because I hear them every single day in some form or another; in emails, late night Skype sessions, and midday conversations across a coffee table. They’re a convenient one-size-fits-all phrase that covers a multitude of meanings for those of you who’ve joined the growing ranks of the weekend defectors, deciding to opt-out of organized religion.

That seemingly simple phrase speaks to so many unique stories; stories of grief, and abuse and exclusion; stories of mistreatment, and isolation and indifference—all experienced in the name of God, all at the hands of God’s people.

They’re words sometimes spoken in angry defiance, sometimes in anguished grief, and sometimes in quiet resignation, but regardless of those distinctions, they’ve all led to the same unfortunate place; separation.

So many of you have shared with me the suffering you’ve gone through as part of local faith communities. It’s damaged or frustrated or wounded you so greatly that you’ve chosen to walk away.

You’ve finally reached the saturation point of what you can endure and after years of attempted reconciliation and after one too many false starts or disappointments, you’ve decided that enough is enough—And now you stay home on Sundays.

Or maybe you don’t just stay home but you definitely do stay away.

You might lazily knock around the house during these mornings now, or grab breakfast at your favorite local spot, or walk your dog through the woods, or make your bed home base for a few cozy hours, filled with some combination of kids and pets and silence.

Perhaps you steal a few quiet moments with coffee and a book, or calmly wrap your mind around the many needs of the busy week ahead; or you fill that Sunday space listening to music, or working on your car, or golfing with friends, or writing the latest chapter of the book you’ve been dreaming about for years. Maybe you meet another family at the park for a morning hike or you Skype with someone you haven’t seen in a while.

Some of you do this with great joy, some with tremendous sadness, and many with a good deal of residual guilt.

And you may have done all of it, thinking that you’ve left the Church, but the encouraging thing you need to hear today, is that you haven’t left God.

In fact, not only haven’t you moved too far from the faith as you’ve made your weekend exodus from the church building, you’re as close to being the Church as you ever were.

The Church after all was never a place anyway, it was always a people. It was a people communing with one another and with God, living life with reverence and gratitude and joy.

And the great, beautiful, catalytic truth, is that you can do that right where you are, right now, this very Sunday.

Those bed-top moments of belly laughter with your kids are as sacred as they come; the secluded wooded paths as holy a ground as you’ll ever walk upon; those meandering, intimate conversations over coffee as real a prayer as there is in the world; the table you share a meal with friends upon, as real a fellowship space as any packed worship service.

So while you have intentionally stepped away from what you believed was religion, in reality you’ve simply stepped fully into a place where you can experience faith in all of its variety and beauty. In the process, you uncovered something that far too many people never discover in a building on Sunday:

You don’t need a band or an organist to worship. Your every waking moment can be an act of praise, your original daily song of adoration.

You don’t need a pastor or other professional Christian to tell you what God is saying to you. You only need to quiet yourself and listen.

You don’t need to recite a communal creed to pray. Each breath can be a prayer, as you live and move with attention to the sacredness of it all.

You don’t need a big amphitheater or a brick building with a steeple to have the Church. Wherever two or more seeking souls are gathered, God is the guest of honor.

You don’t need anyone else’s consent or oversight to learn, study, to find community, to serve, and most of all, to reflect the character of Christ in the world—period.

This may be only a temporary secession from the Church building for you. You may one day find yourself drawn back to a local faith community, and Sundays may again look more like you remember church being before you stepped away. You may once more find acceptance and connection and meaning in the church of your past and that will wonderful.

But even if that never happens, please know that you haven’t lost.

Don’t let anyone tell you that you’ve abandoned faith or that you aren’t walking closely with God.

Anyone who tells you that, simply hasn’t seen what you’ve now seen; that the true spiritual life, is a life lived completely open to the wonder and the work of God, one that far exceeds any building, or worship service, or ministry program.

God is certainly present in the crowds and the noise, and in the large and special weekend gatherings you’ve come to experience as the Church, but God is also as surely present in the quiet, simple, unvarnished places of your ordinary.

You are a breathing sanctuary, my friend and your faith is living as you live. It goes where you go.

To those of you who stay home or stay away this Sunday, be encouraged: God is right where you are.

He left the building long ago.

Welcome home.

Why The Bible Shouldn’t Be Worshiped
by John Pavlovitz

The Bible says it, I believe it, and that settles it.

You’ve heard that phrase before.

You’ve read it on bumper stickers.

You may have even said it a time or two.

It’s an odd little religious mantra that perfectly captures the strange, often paradoxical relationship we modern Christians have with our mysterious ancient text:

Many of us have made The Bible the central pillar of our faith, while not really knowing what it actually says. (especially not the earlier, weirder stuff).

We’ll claim without question that it is filled with words “from the very mouth of God”, and yet we can’t really be bothered to crack it open all that often (and then, definitely not the earlier, weirder stuff).

We want it to be the clear, consistent, unquestioned, unfiltered voice of Truth in all matters, but to do that we often have to avoid, discard, or talk around a whole lot of it (absolutely, the earlier, weirder stuff).

We so crave a Bible that we can use quickly and neatly to support our various arguments and discussion points, when that Bible doesn’t really exist.

The Bible we do have, is an incredibly complex library of writings, culled from thousands of years and multiple, very human writers; books that cross genres and native languages. Understanding the cultural layers piled upon the words over time, and finding the irreducible core and practical application in any given passage is a monumental challenge, even for those who spend the majority of their lifetimes deeply devoted to study.

Try putting any well-meaning, good-intentioned, faithful handful of seminary students, pastors, or pew sitters in a room, and you’ll be hard pressed to find any two who can find unanimous agreement on very much, let alone the totality of its 800,000 words.

Rather than admit and wrestle with the obvious challenges we face in historical context, writing style, and author intent, too many Christians simply hide behind some incendiary, line-drawing, black and white, all-or-nothing rhetoric: You either believe it or you don’t.

Maybe that’s because the Bible has become for so many believers, a fourth addition to the Trinity; something to be blindly worshiped, rather than something to help us better seek the One worthy of worship. We’ve come to treat Scripture as the destination of our spiritual journey, rather than what it was for the earliest believers: essential reading material on the way to the Promised Land.

You can see this misplaced worship everywhere; on message boards and on talk shows and from pulpits and in conversations over coffee, when so many of us wield the Bible like a terribly oversized power tool that we couldn’t be bothered to consult the manual for.

We just fling it around wildly and awkwardly, stuff starts flying—and then people start getting hurt.

Studies show that even though they might claim it to be of vital importance, the average Christian doesn’t read the Bible regularly. Yet those same people (as poorly versed in the Scriptures as they admit to being) will violently defend them when they perceive them to be under attack. With only a cursory, peripheral understanding of the text at best, they’ll use it to form an iron-clad, irrefutable worldview on everything from war to money to guns to sex to love to politics.

So many of us casually throw around the phrase “God’s Word”, as if we all agree on what the Bible actually says or is. I’m here to tell you, we don’t all agree on what it says or what it is and that’s okay. When a Christian accuses another believer of misusing Scripture, they’re essentially claiming sole ownership of its only interpretation, conveniently setting-up the dissenting opinion as the enemy of God.

The difficult reality to come to terms with for so many who claim Christ, is that those who have come to a different conclusion about the Bible, in both large and small ways have done so through the same thoughtful study, the same prayerful reflection, the same sincere desire to know the very heart of God that they have.

Another answer doesn’t automatically equal disobedience or disrespect or immorality or heresy. It’s simply the spot one has landed on; the same earnest, careful, God-honoring process, only yielding a different outcome. If we as believers can’t respect our varied understandings of Scripture and can’t bear any conclusions outside of a very narrow and rigid orthodoxy, our God and our tradition are fairly flimsy.

We need to be able to disagree on the text, even in very fundamental ways, without anyone pulling the Going to Hell card. It’s a cheap conversation stopper, and it reeks of arrogance and lack of faith.

The real problem, is that too many of us are choosing to simply deify the Bible as Divinity itself; something the Bible itself never asks us to do. It is not, as we so often mischaracterize it, “The Word of God”. Jesus is.

We’ve decided that The Bible speaks every necessary thing that God ever has or ever will say (and that He’s said it exactly as we’ve determined, translated, and believe it to be).

In other words, by elevating the Bible to the same level as God and by leaning on our own understanding of its 66 books, we’ve crafted a Divine being who upon closer inspection seems to think a lot like we do, vote like we vote, hate who we hate, and bless what we bless.

The question we need to ask ourselves as modern believers, is whether or not we really trust God to speak clearly and directly to someone independently of the Bible. We know of course, that God can and does communicate through Scripture but is that the last, final, and only method He employs?

We believe that the fixed words of the Bible are, as it says, “living and active“, but do we believe that God is not?

The sad irony, is that too many Christ followers will fight for the veracity of a three-thousand year old library of rather muddy genesis and convoluted collation, while completely discounting a flesh-and-blood person’s realtime personal prayer encounter, with the God who they claim originally uttered those words.

The only religious worldview that makes the Bible the last and only word, is that of a God who is no longer living.

If e read the Scriptures like the will of a dead relative who is never coming back, then yes, we will cling to them as the sole voice through which He speaks. However, if we trust in a Jesus who is alive, and in a God who is fully present to individuals through His Holy Spirit, we will be fully expectant and confident that His voice and vocabulary are not confined to 66 books and 800,000 words. The Bible commands us not to add to the Scriptures but that doesn’t mean that God can’t. That’s what prayer often yields; not God reciting the ancient text verbatim but speaking anew to us.

Regardless of how much we trust in it or revere it the Bible can never be God, but despite what some Christians will tell you, it doesn’t need to be. We don’t pray to the Bible, though we can pray through and with it.

God is purely God and the only entity capable of being so.

The two can never ever be the exact same thing; (The Bible and the God of the Bible), and if we can’t honestly admit that, we’ll never be able to have meaningful discussion about either, without destroying each other.

As Christians, we should read, study, reflect on, respect, and where we feel personally convicted, obey the Bible—but we should never worship it.

The better and more honest option when coming to the Scriptures, might be for us to say: “The Bible appears to say that in this particular passage, I think I believe that interpretation, and now let’s talk about it.”

C J Penn

Church for the Dechurched

Are you a dechurched Christian? I am. Survey’s show that there are millions of us American adults who once were active in a church, but attend no more. We are called the “dechurched.”

Yet there is a church for us. Though I don’t attend church on Sundays, every day can be a church day. Every day can be a day with God.

Jesus founded the church and then passed it onto the apostles. The apostle Paul defined the new church as follows: referring to Jesus, Paul declared, “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” (Ephesians 1:22-23, emphasis added)

The church is the collection of believers in which the Holy Spirit of Jesus lives… the body of Jesus Christ. As Paul also said, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? … for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17)

Church is not a building or manmade organization. Intimate and quiet time with the Spirit of God within you is what real church is about. As long as we look to the Spirit within us, we are not “dechurched.” We ARE the church.

Anthony Portillo

Breaking Down Walls

Building walls seems to be a popular endeavour these days. Whether it’s politics, pop culture, or the church, walls are built everywhere to keep people out in an attempt to protect others. Giant lines of division separating the “Us’s” and “Them’s”. It would appear that the middle ground has all but disappeared and if you don’t choose a side, you’re already on the wrong one!

Not only does this promote division and blatant discrimination, it also causes confusion and distress in the heart of those with a genuine desire to be neutral. Jesus said blessed are the peacemakers but nowadays it seems more like hated are the peacemakers. As soon as we lose sight of love, in any situation, we have already fallen short.

As Kingdom representatives, we are called to be different, we are called to make peace. But what does that look like in a practical sense? Luckily we have the Scriptures to give us some insight into this subject!

The Gospel of John tells us the story of Jesus interacting with a woman at a well. This wasn’t just any woman, this was a Samaritan woman. Jews and Samaritans had no dealings with each other. Jesus not only breaks down the Jew/Samaritan barrier, He also shares with the woman that He knows where she’s been. He knows about her past, He knows the reason she is there at that time of day. He basically  addresses everything that she believed disqualified her from an audience with the Messiah, while giving her that very audience.

The woman’s response is incredible. In all likelihood, she was at that well at that particular time of the day because she knew that she would be there alone. She wouldn’t have to deal with the shame of her past and the ridicule of the people who probably knew about not just the 5 husbands, but also about the man she was currently living with outside of marriage. After her interaction with Jesus, the people that looked upon her in judgement and condemnation were the exact people to whom she would preach the gospel.

Jesus never built walls between Himself and lost and broken people. In fact, He pursued the people who had been pushed to the outside by the wall builders of His day. The lost, the broken, the ostracized, these were the people He exalted in His stories, these were the people He willingly crossed boundaries to reach!

What would it look like if we, “The church”, would put these ideas into practice? What would people’s perception of God be, if they experienced His love, through His people, without judgement and condemnation? What if instead of ostracizing the LGBT community, we engaged them in a loving way? What if instead of trying to argue the Bible with atheists, we connected with them in relationship, showing them the truth of the Gospel message not in words but in deeds?

The Apostle James said ““You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” The most important question we can ask ourselves is “what does my faith look like?” It should look like Jesus, it should look like love! If it doesn’t I’d like to suggest some repentance, a change of mind, to tune into the heart of Mr. Love Himself and display that heart to the world. Love will destroy every wall that hate and division build! Join the Revolution!

Sam Riviera

Loving Neighbors without an Agenda

As we have looked at getting to know our neighbors, building relationships with them and then getting to know them even better and helping them to get to know each other better through group events (Get all these posts in your email inbox by signing up below), perhaps you have wondered why we do this.

Are we networking, finding people who have something we need or who may buy something we’re selling?

Maybe we are building relationships so we can convince people to accept Jesus or attend our church?

Another possibility is that since most people want to live in a friendly neighborhood, maybe we are building relationships with our neighbors to improve the value of our property?

Or are we just looking for friends?

None of these are really our reason.

We try to get to know our neighbors, whether they live on our block, three streets over, in the next neighborhood or across town because as followers of Jesus we try to unconditionally love everyone who crosses our path.

But shouldn’t we try to get our neighbors to attend our church or accept Jesus (or both)?

Hmmm… Consider a parable Jesus told. We usually call it the “Parable of the Good Samaritan,” though it might be better to call it the “Parable of the Beaten Man Lying By the Side of the Road.”

Is the parable about Samaritans, people in need, religious people who are too busy with their religion to help people in need, or what?

Is it possible that one lesson Jesus is teaching us is that our neighbor can be anyone who crosses our path (or whose path we cross)?

Might another lesson be that we should help and love people lavishly, with no expectation of getting anything in return? Could it be that Jesus is teaching us to love other people simply because they are our neighbors?

But how can we love whoever crosses our path, with absolutely no agenda? Is that possible?

It is possible. We think this is what Jesus is talking about in “love your neighbor as yourself” and in the story we call the “Parable of the Good Samaritan.”

But shouldn’t we tell people about Jesus?

We love them first and tell them about Jesus when they ask.

Many do ask, but not all. Most people we know have figured out that we follow Jesus. Sooner or later they ask us about it, when they’re ready to talk about it.

We do not love people so that we can tell them about Jesus. We love them so that they can ask us about Jesus.

And maybe they will not ever ask us about Jesus. That’s okay. We love them still, unconditionally, with no strings attached and no hidden agenda.

My job is to love people like Jesus; God’s job is to draw them to Jesus.

Many years ago a couple we slightly knew invited us to their house for “dessert,” which turned out to be a high pressure sales presentation for a multilevel marketing company. We felt tricked. Even though we have received many subsequent invitations from other people we know for similar presentations (always disguised as something else), we could smell those a long way off, like dead fish, and we have never been “tricked” again.

So it goes with most attempts to “win people to Jesus” (which usually means getting them to attend our church). Most people can smell “fake friendship” a long way off and avoid these people like they avoid dead fish.

Smelling like Jesus, however, smells like loving our neighbor, loving them lavishly for the pure and simple reason that we are the kind of person who does this, loving them with absolutely no agenda attached.

That is a sweet smell, a pleasant aroma, both to our neighbor and to Jesus.

Do you want to win people to Jesus? Simply love them like Jesus, with no agenda whatsoever.

Saved From Myself

Losing My Religion

I have ‘dabbled’ in Christianity at different times in my life, only to feel empty and fearful. The Churches and Christians I knew during those times, preached the fire and brimstone kind of things. They emphasized the unredeemable sinner parts of us and that God was always watching us in judgement. I felt like that no matter what good I tried to do, it would never be enough for God and I resigned myself to thinking I was destined for Hell. At the same time, I witnessed the hypocrisy of the churches and their members. I often heard them ‘gossip’ and ‘judge’ those who were not a cookie-cutter version of their piety and self-righteousness. Then there was the money. The tithe. It was a responsibility and obligation to fill their money plate, for not to do so, would surely be a disappointment to God. The bible was as clear as mud to me. I found there were too many interpretations of scripture from one person to the next who would proclaim their interpretation was right and everyone else’s was wrong. It was a vicious circle of bible-babble between them, that I couldn’t comprehend much less believe in it.

Then there was that speaking in tongues thing. Yeah, I was told that if I truly had the Holy Spirit in me, I could easily allow that to manifest. It never happened. Not once. I was told that I would likely collapse to the floor once the Holy Spirit took hold of me. Church members would stand behind me ready to catch me, but the collapse never happened either. These were the same members who I described above, the gossipers and judges. I just couldn’t trust them and believed that if they truly represented God, then I couldn’t trust Him either. I felt like I had to be a robot. Not think my own thoughts. Not do what I thought was right for me. I felt obliged to be just like them, and then, maybe, God would welcome me into Heaven… someday.

I remember one time having a toothache. They told me that if I ‘really’ trusted God to heal me, He would. I was discouraged from seeing a dentist, but rather, was advised to pray my way through the pain and only then, would I be healed. I did this for approximately two weeks as pieces of my tooth would break off bit by bit until one day, I couldn’t even eat anymore or even close my mouth completely due to the swelling and fever that ultimately took over me. I didn’t trust God enough they said, otherwise that wouldn’t have happened.

After not being able to take anymore pain, I finally went to a dentist who promptly told me I had a ‘gnarly abscess’ that needed immediate attention. He slapped me on some strong antibiotics for several days to help reduce the swelling and infection before he would even consider a much-needed oral surgery done on me. By the time all was said and done, I had a hole where my tooth used to be, and an even bigger hole in my heart and spirit for having been blamed for not trusting in God enough to heal me.

I fled ‘formal‘ Christianity and freed myself from the shackles of religion after that.

Throughout the rags of my 50+ years, I dabbled in other things such as New Age, Buddhism, Paganism, Ásatrú, Atheism, just trying to figure out where I belonged. Surely there must be at least one higher power that would accept me as I am. One that is all-loving and compassionate and without judgement. I’m not saying that these other beliefs or non-beliefs are bad, they just weren’t a good fit for me. I stopped pursuing any higher power and just continued to live my life. Go to work, pay the bills, go to sleep, and then start it all over again the next day. I wasn’t even living, I was maintaining my responsibilities in life without joy. I became critical and cynical of the world.

My solace and spiritual comfort always took me back to nature. The trees and flowers, the birds singing, the animals, the sound of ocean waves, the falling rain, the sunrises, the stars in the heavens, the companionship of my beloved dogs… these are the things that kept me in communion with a Higher Power. How can a judgmental, angry, and vindictive God have created all of these beautiful things? I was conflicted by that question for many years until one day it occurred to me, the only ones who are judgmental, angry, and vindictive are people… not God.

It was an epiphany! All of a sudden, everything made sense to me. I had put my ‘faith’ in man rather than in God. It wasn’t difficult to believe in man, since they would often proclaim that they had the authority and ‘theological wisdom‘ to represent God’s will and commands and laws that we should abide by.

No. Just NO.

Fast forward into the present. I dropped religion altogether and came back to God. This time, it was to be a very personal relationship. Not between man and me, church and me, religion and me, but between God and I. His only Son Jesus bled and died for us so that we may know the Father through Him. What an incredible sacrifice that was! It was a sacrifice done in love so that we may be forgiven and come to Him as Little Children… cleansed and clothed in love despite our messy lives and perfect imperfections.

I appreciate the beauty He created, for it is something I have seen, touched, tasted, and smelled for myself. It is tangible evidence to me that there MUST be something bigger than us that created all of it. I do not believe that it was an arbitrary and spontaneous event. There had to have been a Genesis, a Beginning, a Concept, a Plan, an Execution, that put it all into place with incredible and astonishing precision which would require intelligent design.

This is a God I can have faith in! Every day I affirm with Him that I cannot do this life alone, that I need and want direction. I am His child. It is a very personal relationship. I no longer regret the past. I no longer fear the future. More and more, I find joy in life and what small part I may contribute to this world. I cannot place a label on my relationship with God, therefore, I do not subscribe to any religious denomination and if I call it anything at all, it’s ‘Christianity free from fundamentalism.’ I don’t feel a need to drop to my knees in structured and formal prayer. I talk to God like I would talk to a trusted friend or a loving parent. I talk to Him when I’m in bed, taking a shower, driving to work, buying groceries, cooking spaghetti, or any number of scenarios, anytime, anywhere. It’s very informal and enjoyable and meaningful to me.

As far as the bible is concerned, I don’t focus too much on who begat whom and the myriad of social and historical contexts in which they were written at the time. I am not, and will likely never be, fully equipped to even try to decipher and apply all of it to the here and now. My focus is upon building a solid foundation with Jesus, one that no man or woman can shatter. I have faith that God will guide me through it all in His time, in His way, on our journey together. I frequently read His words in red because they are the ones that provide the most clarity and comfort to me. I also don’t worry about hell, for I believe hell is more of a frame of mind rather than an absolute destination. I don’t worry about believing or being like anyone else but me … flaws and all. I celebrate my small triumphs with Him and know he is cheering me on. I ask His forgiveness when I stumble, and he continues to cheer me on. He is my Friend, Parent, Partner, and Teacher. He loves me through it all… despite it all.

And I am okay with that.

Tim Timmons

Discipleship Factor in Changing the World

According to Jesus, the answer for changing the world is not an organized religious system nor is it a particular outline of teachings. Jesus mandated one way for changing the world-to make disciples or followers of Jesus in all nations. The process of discipleship makes the presence of Jesus possible in every nation of the world and is the best possibility for peace and reconciliation everywhere.

If discipleship is so vital to changing the world, then why is it so rare among those who claim to follow Jesus. Here are 4 observations: 1. There is a need to be deprogrammed from what we’ve been taught. Most people, who have grown up in a religious setting, have been programmed wrongly. Most believe the process of discipleship is about passing on information. Therefore, to me, the process of discipleship was always performed in the classroom-the better the information taught, the better the disciple. If we are going to make disciples, we must stop this kind of thinking.

2. Discipleship is caught, not taught. The process of discipleship takes lots of time. Jesus’ process of discipleship was to take his disciples on a variety of field trips-outside the classroom. This allows a follower to observe, discuss and ask questions along the way.
3. Discipleship is not one person teaching and a group listening. Participators, not spectators, are required for the process of discipleship to be effective. Jesus warned us not to call anyone “teacher” or “rabbi” or “father” or “leader”, because of this misunderstanding. When followers come together, they gather to hear from one teacher-Jesus. Jesus is heard and absorbed within the conversation of a little group.
4. Discipleship always takes more time than you think you have. In my opinion, this discourages more people away from the process of discipleship. It takes so much time! It’s so much easier to teach a class or to have a person read something, commit them to memorizing bible verses, or be able to mimic the basic beliefs within your fellowship. Discipleship happens when Jesus followers spend an extensive amount of time in interactive conversation about their personal experience, strength, and hope they are finding in Jesus. Discipleship can’t happen in a Church service, at an annual event, in a weekend seminar, or online. This is the primary reason why discipleship is so rare and why followers of Jesus are unable to change the world.

The discipleship factor is the missing link, even within the popular small group movement around the world. Most small group materials produced today have one of three underlying purposes: (1) To make people better Christians. (2) To add members to your Church. (3) To pass on good information. Jesus had a better idea!

2trakmind

Rules Conform: Love Transforms

There’s been much flap, recently, about many social issues that cause Christians a great deal of concern and have resulted in grand declarations about the long term and even eternal consequences that will be incurred, should these things be allowed to continue.

For centuries, Christians have deemed themselves the world’s moral police, believing they are protecting and serving the world by building better fences to keep people from sin and the total moral collapse of society. Clearly, this has never worked. If it had, we would already be the shining city on a hill that we all long for. I know this is no news to all of you, but it is not, nor has it ever been the job of Christians to protect and serve by being the judge and jury of mankind. Sadly, society truly has bore consequences, not of “their sin,” per se, but of over-zealous Christians who take their self imposed mission far too far. This over-zealousness is in stark contrast to the life Christ calls us to. Yes, we should be zealous about the One whose zealous love for us rescued us from our own sin. However, this rescue came, not through the successful following of a moral code, but through self sacrificial love, freely given, without reserve, regardless of our moral uprightness.

For generations, mankind lived under a “moral code,” which, by all appearances, failed miserably. However, the great experiment was actually the catalyst to God’s (and our) ultimate victory over sin and death, setting us free from its power and releasing us from that oppressive moral code. Jesus, before He ascended to heaven, left us with a new command, one the replaces that failed moral code and yet, ironically, perfectly fulfills the requirements of that code; LOVE. He said, paraphrased…

Love others with the same love that I have loved you with.

That’s it.

Unfortunately, the church believed this was far too simple, so it blew the dust off that old, dead moral code and tried to raise it back to life, as if Jesus, Himself, was not already resurrected. We chose to ignore His new command (which is actually a blessing) and try to live by the law, once again; the very law that is called “a minister of death” in the Bible. At times we even perceive some apparent success when we, or others, conform behavior to it’s requirements. But this success is deceptive. It isn’t really success, at all, but a grand failure. It is a failure, because the desire to conform to this old code automatically violates the new code, as attempting to abide by the old code is not driven by love, but fear; fear for ourselves, fear for others, fear of the future, fear (not reverence) of God, and as Facebook friend of mine has said, “Perfect fear casts out love.” In deep contrast, though, “perfect love casts out fear!”

It’s understandable that we would be concerned for the harmful impact of people’s choices, and I will not deny that this world is in tough shape, but tightening our grip on our rules, attempting to control behavior and protect the world from it’s ultimate demise reveals something about our faith that should cause us even greater concern than people’s behavior. This obsession with moral conformity reveals a deep mistrust of and ultimately a disbelief in God’s role as the creator, sustainer, convictor, and reconciler of mankind. It is not our job to hold the world to some moral code, not our job to convict others of sin, not our job to “save them.” This is God’s job and God’s alone. We are only to love.

Tolerance does not mean a condoning of sin, but a full acceptance of God’s love, grace and forgiveness for ourselves

Some say that tolerance is but a condoning, or cover up of sin, but this is false, too. Tolerance, for a Christian, is really our acknowledgement that we are no different than those we deem as falling short. At one time, we were all dead in our trespasses and were raised up to new life. This was not a result of conforming to a moral code, but the life giving/restoring love of Jesus.

We all have our stuff and none of our stuff is any better than “their” stuff. There is no “us and them;” there is only “we” and what “we” need is what Jesus brought to all mankind and asked us to distribute; His all transforming, all restoring LOVE.

Rules may conform, but only love transforms.

Followers

I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. ~Paul, 1 Corinthians 3:2

In my years of being taught in the academic church environment, 1 Corinthians 3:2 was often used to place guilt and pressure upon people who had not dedicated themselves enough to the teaching and study of scripture and as a result, were at risk of being led into all sorts of false doctrines and twisted theologies. I’ve been thinking, lately, about what kind of seems like the modern “celebritification” (ya, I made it up) of pastors and Bible teachers and God seemed to wake me up, this morning, just a couple of verses down from verse 2, when Paul wrote…

When one of you says, “I am a follower of Apollos,” and another says, “I follow Paul,” aren’t you acting just like people of the world? After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul?

Many today would probably respond, saying; “Who is Paul? He’s APOSTLE Paul! Perhaps, the most influential person in the Bible, besides Jesus. Certainly the most influential when it comes to the daily living out of our faith!” I don’t think Paul’s point could be made any more perfectly. The people had made celebrities out of Paul and Apollos and Paul wasn’t going to stand for it.

We all follow someone. None of us are completely immune from the influence of another. We all have people that we look up to and oftentimes even try to adopt some characteristic of theirs, in order to improve ourselves in some way. Society constantly lifts up celebrities, self-help gurus, business leaders, health and fitness experts and, in the church, spiritual leaders as examples of what we should all aspire to. I suppose this isn’t entirely bad; the problem is, this pursuit often consumes us. Even if the person we follow is a truly godly person, our identity can be lost in our pursuit of becoming who THEY are. We become nothing more than a parrot, mimicking what we hear, rather than entering into the fullness of who God created as; leaving us feeling restless, empty, lost; we don’t know who we really are. Dare I even say; we can even do this with Jesus? Did someone just *GASP!*?

I think it’s interesting that, back in verse 2, Paul doesn’t say, “Your failure to learn from and apply our teaching to your life has made it so I must continue feeding you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger.” No, Paul connects their readiness for something stronger to something different. He first lists some behavioral characteristics that he observes in them, then gets to the root of their problem.

…you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world? When one of you says, “I am a follower of Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting just like people of the world?

Did you catch what the root of their problem was? I may be wrong, but it looks to me like their problem was their celebritification of Paul and Apollos. Instead of transferring their dependence to Christ, they remained dependent upon the teaching of their earthly leaders, which, despite their faithful “feeding,” had absolutely no positive effect on their behavior. They remained consumed with jealousy and petty bickering, not because they didn’t go to church enough, listen to sermons enough, study their Bibles enough, but because they had never progressed beyond these things. Sadly, this is the condition of the church, even today.

I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow.” ~Paul, 1 Corinthians 3:6-7

Who makes the seed grow? Not Paul. Not Apollos. Not Billy Graham. Not Rick Warren. Not Mark Driscoll. Not Rob Bell. Not your local church Pastor Bob, or Jeff, or Brian, or Tom, or Bill, or, or, or… A man or woman may plant the seed, but only God makes it grow. It was never God’s design for man to remain under the lifelong teaching of another man. For the life in Christ to become fully implanted in us, we MUST transfer our dependence from the milk of the ones who planted and watered the seed, to the meat of the only One who can make the seed grow.

Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters.  And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your spiritual Father. And don’t let anyone call you ‘Teacher,’ for you have only one teacher, the Messiah. ~Jesus, Matthew 23:8-10.

Jon Turney

Give Till It Hurts

Let’s talk about tithing. I know this might be a touchy subject for some. Honestly, I am not sure why. This should be a simple couple of sentences, and then we should be able to move on to other subjects. Unfortunately, that is not the case. If you are wondering, my stand on tithing is this – YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO TITHE. I said it a little louder for the people in the back. The church was never supposed to be set up in a way that had it relying on your money to stay afloat. We can spend paragraph after paragraph explaining the idea behind tithing within the old covenant system. We could defend why it was necessary and practical at that time. I could yammer on about the tribes and the way they were set up. The way that they were required to take care of the tribe of Levi. But, in all honesty, that is not what I am talking about. What I am talking about is the modern church. Primarily the Western church It has become a sight to behold. A wondrous creation. A light on the hill for all to see and look upon it in wonder. But was that what it was ever meant to be? Was it supposed to be the best-looking building on the block? Was it supposed to shine like a beacon…literally? I don’t think so. Somewhere along the way, the church has lost its way. It has set itself up in pomp and circumstance. It had decided that it needs to be the best show in town. What does all this need to work? Money, and lots of it. So, what did the church do? It turned to its congregation and created two levels to sustain its coffers.

First, it set up a system of fear. Fear that if you did not tithe that god would be angry with you. After all, tithing is biblical. After all, god desires us to give until it hurts. Preachers would get up in front of their congregation (usually after a really heartfelt slow song in a minor key) and explain how god needed to church to step up and do their part. God needed the church to raise money for…fill in the blank. New carpet for the nursery. New chairs for the sanctuary. New televisions to show the lyrics of those slow sad songs. Money to send someone off to some foreign land to save the heathens. This list could go on and on. God needed us to reach deep into our pockets and give just a little more than we were comfortable with. We didn’t want god disappointed in us. We didn’t want to receive the bad karma for being the one that, through not giving, made the preacher’s future dreams not come true. After all, he was the conduit to god that we all listened to. If he was saying it needed to be done, then that was the same as god saying it…right? The fear and dread were palpable. There was an underlying concern that the church could fold. That if we didn’t do our due diligence, that the church’s failure would be in a large part because of us. The sad part of all of this is that the church was and is complicit in all of this. Churches and pastors were just as guilty as the guys with the new mansion and the new fast car. There was and is a sense of one-up-manship in churches. The idea of keeping up with the Joneses. This church got a new sound system, so this other church got a new lighting system. Another church got a flat-screen television, so this other church got three new flat-screen televisions. All the while explaining to the church that this is all god’s will. We don’t want to disappoint god. We have to show through all our new toys our devotion to god. This is one way that the church manipulated its followers to give and then give a little more.

The second tool in their bag of tricks was even more sinister, in my opinion. I might be a little biased with this one. I might have a personal ax to grind with this one. I am positive that I am not the only one. This other trick that they had is what most like to call the prosperity gospel. It works something like this. God needs you to give. He needs you to dig deep and give just a tad more than you can afford. But don’t worry. God will reward your faithfulness by returning your generous offerings say…fivefold…seven-fold…hell it might even be tenfold. Here is the part that is overlooked by almost every pastor I have ever heard preach this. There is no set timeline. You might see your return really quick like in just a few days. In other instances, it might take much much longer for you to see your glorious return on your offerings. Why does this notion work so well? As I see it, it is for a couple of reasons that this works. First, shame. You don’t want to be the one that goes to the pastor to let him know that you never reaped any reward. What would the other churchgoers think of you? Did you not give enough? Do you have some secret sin in your life that is blocking you from receiving your reward? Televangelists got very good at this tactic. They would use the above-mentioned fear connected with the promise of rich rewards to dupe people into sending their hard-earned cash to them. This is the personal part. I had family members that bought into this and sent way too much money to these swindlers. Never to see any type of reward except maybe a Christmas card every year (which also reminded them to send more money). The second reason this worked is if by chance you got up the nerve to ask your preacher why you hadn’t seen your return on your offering, he had the perfect answer all ready for you. It would be just this simple to blow you off. It would go like this. “well, for this to work you need to have faith. If this isn’t happening for you, I think you need to look deep inside. You need to find your faith that god will provide for you.” How do you respond to that? How can you explain that your faith is just as good as the next guy? Especially when their shame is probably keeping them quiet about also not receiving any returns on their offerings. This whole prosperity gospel begs the one question. I am sure you have heard it asked before, but I will ask it again. If this whole prosperity thing works. If there is really a five, seven, or ten times return, then why doesn’t the church donate all its money to another church? It would stand to reason that they would be rolling in cash in no time. Why don’t they do that? I am sure you are smart enough to figure that out.

I am going to end this rant with one simple request from the church. Stop demanding tithes. Stop funding a concert special event every Sunday to get people into your pews. Be more like the church of Acts. Give everything away. Take care of the poor. Take care of the widows. Take care of the sick. Take care of the marginalized. These are things worth spending money on. Not a new car for the pastor. Not a blasting sound system. Not laser lights and fog machines. Not one of those has ever saved someone. But giving a hungry and sick child food and a place to sleep has.

Marion Wiley

The Dechurched, the Wilderness Experience, and the Next Move of God

The Movement Out of Institutional Churches

The ranks of the dechurched are growing every day. More and more people are questioning the influence and effectiveness of institutional churches in general. There is a growing movement that is creating a huge contingent of people who no longer attend regular services for whatever reason, many of whom are simply staying home. These dechurched people are frustrated with the status quo and at the same time have a fervent desire to have a much clearer focus on what the Church is supposed to be.

Many of these people are just simply tired of the ineffectiveness and lack of real ministry in these established churches, but a disturbingly large number of people are leaving because they’ve been hurt in churches with controlling leadership. Abusive churches are a major problem, churches that are run with very heavy-handed leadership leaving members used and abused. Once these people get free from the controlling environment, they are very likely to pull out of church altogether at least for awhile to heal and rediscover their relationship with God. Whatever the reason, the ranks of the dechurched are growing every day, people that have one thing in common- a deep desire to find Jesus and the real Church.

The Current State of Things

The Old Wineskin

The modern, traditional, institutional church as it is established now is one that breeds laziness, passivity and an atmosphere that encourages religion. Tradition dictates that one man or woman (or couple) is in charge, carrying the load of all things spiritual along with their staff and a handful of others, while the members for the most part remain passive and uninvolved. There is an assumption that the clergy has the  education, the “spirituality” and the calling, and thus should carry the lion’s share of the responsibility. There has been a clear division for centuries between the clergy and the laity, a division that promotes the sense that members aren’t qualified to minister.

The  entire set-up of a typical church regardless of its denominational affiliation (or lack thereof) lends itself very readily to the audience/performance type of arrangement with the majority of the members doing little more than just sitting and listening to whatever is doled out from the platform. There is little if any encouragement for members to function in their gifts, little encouragement for actual spiritual growth, little opportunity for one-on-one ministry. Typically, people file in, find a seat, chit-chat a bit, listen, then head for the car. And we feel like we’ve done our spiritual duty for the week with this arrangement.

Institutional church is rife with the traditions of men and thus religion- programmed  institutions that are run with man’s programs, man’s plans, man’s works. As spiritual as we think we have been, “church” is nothing like what it should be, and most people know it. What we call church is far removed from the ideal, on-fire Church of the New Testament. We’ve become lukewarm, complacent and bewitched by the religion that permeates our  services.

Church Buildings- Money Pits?

These churches have buildings that require a great deal of money to build and maintain, thus a constant need for funds. This sets the stage for the generally accepted doctrine that says that the tithe must be paid, specifically to the local church, or the curse is just around the  corner. They also promote the notion that the blessing comes as a result of giving. Many churches find themselves under pressure to produce finances for building programs and resort to arm-twisting to extract at least the tithe from as many as will conform to that particular tradition. And the pressure is greater every year with those churches that are actually growing and need bigger buildings and more paid staff. Paid staff- now there’s another tradition that isn’t anything like what the New Testament Church was.

Consider the thousands taken in every Sunday morning in traditional churches across this country. What percentage of this ultimately goes to feed the hungry, support missionaries or accomplish other actual ministry?  Consider the budget for just the building (maintenance, utilities, insurance, etc.), and how many hungry children could be fed with what comes in? Bigger is not necessarily better, in my book.

The abuse of the prosperity message has corrupted many a ministry over the years. When this kind of doctrine is promoted and the money starts rolling in, the temptation to covetousness is huge, and just doing a little research on big-name television mega-ministries will prove that the draw into love of money is often too much to resist. With the prosperity message being emphasized in many of these churches, the members are left believing that their giving into these ministries is their ticket to the blessing of God. This leaves grace completely out of the picture and introduces religion; giving becomes works that earn your blessing. And of course the church itself will prosper nicely with this arrangement, but do you? That’s works and more religion.

Understand that I tend to be rather biased in this regard. I spent 12 years in an abusive, charismatic “word of faith” church that distorted the Word to pad its own pockets. But since coming out, I am discovering how duped many of us have been for decades, believing these doctrines that are part and parcel in most churches anywhere you go.

The Dechurched Because of Spiritually Abusive Churches

Spiritually  abusive churches, or what I call Red Flag Churches, aren’t readily  obvious. Generally they exist in the charismatic branch of Christianity,  flourishing among those congregations that have no denominational oversight. They seem to have all their ducks in a row, with what seems to be preaching according to the Word of God, great worship services and the gifts of the Spirit in evidence. But they emphasize extreme  submission to authority and exert an inordinate amount of control over their congregations with absolutely no accountability. It took me 12 years to finally come to the conclusion that the church I was in was anything but healthy, so I know first hand how difficult it is to recognize an abusive church. Leaving is difficult for many reasons, and the emotions experienced are very intense. Some liken it to spiritual rape. For me the feelings of betrayal were the most intense. I have had to deal with coming to the realization that most of the teachings I had received for three decades had been doctrines formed by scripture twisting and proof-texting.

Churches like this are everywhere, and the number of people suffering from spiritual abuse  seems to be growing every day. These people require special ministry and more than likely much more time to recover, making their wilderness experience a longer and harder season. Many of these may never return to  institutional church, completely leaving anything that even vaguely resembles what we traditionally view as church, and some may abandon their faith altogether.

Those that are leaving these kinds of churches are a significant part of the dechurched. Their  experiences are unique and those that manage to overcome the fallout from the abuse will come out on the other side with a much deeper commitment to God and to a ministry centered on grace and the Truth.

The Wilderness Experience

As  people leave their churches, the next step seems to be a wilderness  experience, a time when a relationship with God is strengthened and God deals with issues that need to be taken care of. It’s a time of preparation much like Moses, David, Paul and many others in the Bible went through before their time of ministry. Many who have left their churches felt like they had been called out by God, even though the people they left behind have accused them of being rebellious and unsubmitted.

When believers make the decision to leave what they’ve known for years, a season of prayer and seeking the face of God is necessary to determine what to do next. The wilderness  experience also works to purge out old faulty doctrines, wrong attitudes and other issues that would hinder ministry, as well as pulling all crutches out. Tradition tends to create crutches- you think you’re spiritual IF… if you read 3 chapters of the Bible a day, if you pray for an hour a day, if you go to the building every time the doors are open, etc., etc. The wilderness experience forces believers into the arms of God, building trust and faith in our Heavenly Father apart from all the the traditions of men.

The process of leaving is hard at best, particularly if those left behind aren’t very sympathetic. Coming to terms with the reality of the situation can be very difficult and can take quite a bit of time to reconcile and is particularly hard for the dechurched that have left abusive churches.  This presents a whole different set of problems that are dealt with in my post Making the Decision to Leave an Abusive Church.

Time in a regular, institutional church can also create a laziness in believers, a tendency to expect the leaders to carry the load of all things spiritual. God will work to remove those crutches in order to pull you into a relationship with and dependence on Him. Many of us have relied on others for much of our spiritual responsibilities, and in the wilderness all that must change.

The process is certainly no fun, but necessary to bring us into a place of true, unhindered ministry, a stronger relationship with God and clear direction. It is not an easy time by any means, leaving the familiar, losing all our former crutches and having to face our wrong attitudes and beliefs, but as we come to a place of complete surrender to God, learning to be led by His Spirit, that is when we can truly be used by God to bring real change to those around us. And this is, indeed, the point- coming into a deeper relationship with God and learning to hear His voice so we can be led by His Spirit, not by all the other voices around us.

The Next Move of God

The New Wineskin

Institutional churches generally are doing all they know to do and there are some  good programs out there, and many look to the small, house church movement as an answer. But there again, this is just another man-made system that is prone to corruption- pride, love of money, whatever. The  problem is that it’s still a “format”, a system devised by man. And as such, being left in the control of man’s hands, it will eventually become a system that will tend to leave God out.

I have come to believe that the true Church is merely His people living their lives led by His Spirit, demonstrating the love of God to those He brings across their paths. No system of planned meetings can accommodate what God intends with His Church.

People who have gone through the upset and the wilderness experience that comes with leaving what was their church for years will come out with a relationship with God that many others will never know. And isn’t that the point? In an institutional church setting, it is far too easy to get lazy and expect the so-called leadership to do all the heavy lifting.  We are all to hear from God, be led by His Spirit, and have that relationship with Him that He intends. I believe the next move of God is merely His people learning to walk with Him every day, demonstrating His love to a broken world, a “liquid” church that moves when He moves, goes where He tells them to, and truly abides in Him.

Many people are leaving churches out of frustration, feeling like they no longer fit in. These people are tired of the sameness of the services and the lack of real ministry. Some say they are leaving because of a prompting from the Holy Spirit. To these people, “church” brings up  images of a system that is more of a drain than anything else- a drain on their time, money and talents. But not all who feel this way have left their churches; some will stay because God has not called them out. There are bound to be good local churches out there that are doing and will do effective ministry to their communities, so this is not a blanket indictment of local church in general, merely a general statement on how most churches tend to be. Working with local churches would be the ideal situation, bringing unity into the community and a real expression of love to those in need.

God is doing away with the old wineskin and replacing it with a new one that will break when the new wine is poured in. In existing churches? Perhaps. That depends on how they react to this new move of God and if they choose to change with Him, and that is where people must learn to be led by the Spirit. Rule of thumb- follow peace. If peace dictates that you  stay in your church, then that is what you must do. But if church is leaving you frustrated and discouraged, then peace may dictate that you leave and seek His face for a season to determine what you must do next.  Pulling out takes courage, but many have done it and support is out there.

Where’s the Love?

By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.  John 13:35

How many of you remember the old Wendy’s TV commercials from the ‘80’s with the little old lady wanting to know, “Where’s the beef?” She was looking for the meat, looking for what makes a hamburger a hamburger. In one of the ads, there is a really big, fluffy bun, but hardly any beef.

I have been asking myself a similar question where the church is concerned. I look at what we call “church” and wonder, have we missed it? The meat of the church is supposed to be love. God is love. We are called to love. They will know us by our love. Without love we are nothing. If love is the meat of the church, I want to know where it is.

I see big ole churches being erected, thousands and thousands spent to house one brand of Christianity or another so they can do their programs, services and whatever else they do that they call “church”. Even the word “service” bothers me now. The only way that word is used in the King James New Testament is to refer to serving others, not to some scripted ritual once or twice a week. And of course to pay for all this, we are gifted with sermons that demand, Tithe or Burn!! (I stole that one from The Rise of the Nones*.)

Where’s the love?

We sit through these “services” led by the few that are supposed to be qualified to dispense their revelations for the week while the rest of us sit and stare at the back of someone’s head. (Forgive me- I freely admit to having grown rather cynical.) This whole system does nothing but breed laziness and dependence in the congregation and burnout in the leaders. We’ve turned into the Israelites of old, who decided that Moses would hear from God for them. They didn’t want to go to that mountain! We all are supposed to be hearing from God, not just the few. We are all supposed to be ministers, but even the concept of ministry is warped in my opinion. “Ministry” isn’t getting in front of a group of people to lead a service or a Bible study or whatever. It’s ministering love to those in the world, those more likely than not who are not in the building but OUT THERE, who desperately need to see Jesus in us.

Where’s the love?

Having done our religious duty for the week, we feel like we can call ourselves “Christian” and go about the rest of our lives, more often than not, leaving Christianity at that church door. How often do people forget what the sermon was about, let alone implement any of it? Sermon? Hey, I’m busy obsessing about the out-of-place hair on the person in front of me!

Where’s the love?

Typical practice is for any charity work to be done in the name of that church- giving to various ministries including missionaries, and any other outreaches that minister to those outside that church. Generally, it’s just money put in the plate that constitutes the participation of the majority of the congregation. And we go home feeling like we’ve done our duty, even though only a small percentage of our giving actually gets to anyone in need, simply because of the ever-present expenses of building maintenance, insurance, (loan payments???) and paid staff.

Where’s the love?

I once helped out an older lady I had known for quite a few years. She had no family that was helping, had moved to an assisted living facility, and I provided transportation and company. She had been a member of a small church in the area for years, and had not gotten one phone call, let alone a visit since she’d been in that facility. I had to twist that pastor’s arm not once but twice to get out there and visit her when she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. I was more apt to give that family a pass for not visiting or calling before I’d have cut that church any slack. I was completely disgusted with them, and he was the one that she insisted on officiating at her funeral. This is the church?

Where’s the love???

The world sees Christians as:

“. . . hyperpolitical, out of touch, pushy in our beliefs, and arrogant. And the most dominant perceptions of all are that we are homophobic, hypocritical, and judgmental. Simply put, in the minds of many, modern-day Christianity no longer seems Christian.” **

This is how the world perceives us. And all too often, they are right. So many “Christian” groups have just sailed into the ditch of judgmentalism thinking they are doing God’s work, while love just gets left in the dust. How many of those people they condemn could have been (or still  be) won by just loving them?

Maybe your church isn’t one of those radical, hate-filled numbers that ruins the reputation of  Christianity. I hope not. But still, our complacency and dependence on an authority structure have robbed us and the Body of Christ of real ministry and real growth. And with the reputation that the church has in the world, those that truly need him are never going to darken the door. Granted, most churches do the best they know to do and have done a  great deal of good over the years, but there is just so much more.

They will know we are Christians by our love, not by our buildings. They will know we are Christians by our love, not by our Bibles we carry around or our bumper stickers. (Thank you, Joyce Meyer!) They will know we are Christians by our love, not by our judgmental,  hate-filled “biblical” attitudes toward those who just simply need Jesus. They will know we are Christians by our love, not by how we dress up and go to church on Sundays.

And they will know we are Christians by our love, not by our political affiliation and all the venom and righteous indignation we spew toward the “other side”. Then, one of my personal favorites- they will know we are Christians by our love, not by how we judge those outside the Church, but give those claiming Christianity a pass because, “Oh, Jesus told us to judge not.” Paul told us to do exactly the opposite- we are to judge believers, those claiming Christianity, but God will judge those outside the Church (1 Cor. 5:12), yet we see that righteous indignation all the time toward all kinds of people who are not a part of the Church. We have it completely backward. Those we are unrighteously judging need to see our love, not our condemnation.

They will know we are Christians when we realize our allegiance is to the Lamb and to the Kingdom of God, and finally start doing what God said to do- Go! He never told us to build buildings, concoct programs and events and try to persuade the world to come. They ain’t comin’! He told us to go, and He commanded us to love.

Do we just have “big, fluffy bun” Christianity? Where’s the love?

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.  1 Cor 13:1-3, 13 NASB

Liquid Church – The Shape of Church to Come

Giving- According to Tradition or According to the Spirit?

The concept of church that most of us have known all our lives has been shaped by our experiences in traditional church of one denomination or another.  We all tend to accept the premise that the work of the Church is done through the local church, and that generally by the few that we perceive as “qualified”.

For the most part, the vast majority of Christians only passively minister to the needy because those ministries are run by the local church, and that means only a few are actually involved. When we give our money to the church, we are told that we are taking an active part in whatever ministry the church does in the community, but is this how the New Testament says it should be?

How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying. KJV 1 Cor. 14:26

There are lots “one another” verses in the New Testament that we really don’t see walked out in churches as we know them now.  The Word tells us to exhort one another, teach and admonish one another, serve one another and of course, love one another. Our mission is to express the love of God to one another in our daily lives, not necessarily just through church programs, but directly ministering to those in need when we come together, as well as to those in need in our communities.

There are a plethora of verses commanding that we walk out our faith with acts of love and service as expressed in Matthew 25:

31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. KJV

Christian giving is supposed to be according to ability, with a willing heart (2 Cor. 8:12; 9:7), not under compulsion.  Our giving is to be directed toward those God brings into our lives, toward those that God draws our attention to. When we give according to God’s direction to those in need rather than going through an institution that acts as a middle man, we can experience the blessings of giving and we can see that what we give goes directly to where the need is rather than being funneled into an institution that will divert funds to support itself.

There are so very many verses that express this in the Word, like in James 2:14 where it says that faith without works is dead. When you see someone in need yet dismiss them without doing anything for them, where is the faith in that? But more to the point, if their needs are dismissed because we have already given a tithe to an institution and just don’t have any more to give, then where does that leave the needy?

I have come to believe that our giving is not to be coerced by threats of the curse and given in the form of a tithe that will go to support a building, programs and paid staff. This just isn’t what I see in the New Testament at all. What I see is a heart of love that chooses to give of itself to those around them in need, and that giving is to be done with a willing heart and according to ability, not motivated out of pressure from the pulpit. And it certainly isn’t limited to money; there are people all around us with physical needs that we can help meet.

13 Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour’s service without wages, and giveth him not for his work; 14 That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion. 15 Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him? 16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the Lord.  Jer. 22:13-16 KJV

The use of the word “house” in this passage generally brings to mind a private dwelling.  But if you look at it like it is referring to a “house of God”, a church building, it takes on a different meaning. We have “closed ourselves” in our “houses”, away from the rest of the world, and sermons so often are merely “preaching to the choir”. I hate to think about how many buildings have been erected by demanding the tithe, and devouring widows’ houses in the process, all for the sake of an impressive “house of God”.

Here we see what God wants, and what it takes to truly know Him- to judge the cause of the poor and the needy. It brings to mind the verse where Jesus is saying to those who did all the religious things thinking they were doing God’s work- “Depart from Me, I never knew you” (Mat. 7:23). So much of what we do in church is merely ritual, and we have missed the greater call God has on our lives- do something for those in need around us.

Empty Traditions of Men

13 Bring no more offerings of vanity (emptiness, falsity, vainglory, and futility); [your hollow offering of] incense is an abomination to Me; the New Moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot endure–[it is] iniquity and profanation, even the solemn meeting. . .  17 Learn to do right! Seek justice, relieve the oppressed, and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. 18 Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; 20 But if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.  Isaiah 1:13-20 AMP

Traditional churches have done worlds of good throughout the centuries, yet the institutional system it has become has restricted her ability to minister as we need to in the last days. Because of the one-man-rule setup we are all accustomed to, we tend to devalue ourselves and place too much responsibility on that one man (or woman) and the handful of people in leadership that work with them. Church has become an event, a programmed “service” in which traditions of men predominate.

The heart of God is for the poor, the widow, the orphan, those in need. Christianity should be a lifestyle, not a weekly event. If you are born again, you are qualified. You don’t need years of training to minister the love of God to those around you. Often it is the youngest Christians, those who have been born again only a short time, that are the most effective witnesses because they haven’t yet been indoctrinated into the mindsets that we all acquire after years of institutional church involvement. We tend to devalue our own abilities and giftings simply because of the way the Church is structured, believing that only the chosen few are qualified to do any active ministry. Church services can become vain, shallow expressions of our faith with little that conforms to what God says He desires:

6[Rather] is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every [enslaving] yoke? 7 Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house–when you see the naked, that you cover him, and that you hide not yourself from [the needs of] your own flesh and blood?  Isaiah 58: 6-7 AMP

Liquid Church

With Jesus at the Helm

When Jesus is truly the Head of the Church and His body is obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit, that is when the world will see Jesus in us, for we will be expressing His love to those around us. As long as we are restricted by the traditional church model that tends to leave all ministry to the chosen few, the people of God are shortchanged. Often believers are left thinking they aren’t qualified to do anything more than just show up on Sundays and support the local church programs with their money. So their gifts and talents quite often go untapped, and they are left frustrated and without vision or motivation to minister the way God intended.

With Jesus as the Head of the Church and the Holy Spirit leading the people of God, every believer has the opportunity to function in the body as they are called, every believer then can give freely to those they are led to give to, and give according to ability; and every believer will then experience what it is like to be able to express their uniqueness as a vital part of the Body of Christ.

THIS is what Christianity boils down to- walking in love by ministering the love of God to those in need. When we all begin to listen to the guiding of the Spirit and minister to the needs of those around us, we turn into what some have termed “liquid church” that seeps into every part of society. While institutional church is like an ice cube with a specific form in a specific space, liquid church flows like living water into the cracks and crevices of life, bringing love and hope to parts of society others have forgotten.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Matt 23:23 KJV

You CAN hear from God; you CAN learn to listen to His voice to know where to go, what to do and how to give. Traditional church tends to make believers lazy, depending on the few to do everything, including hearing God’s voice. But God never intended for any of us to sit on the sidelines waiting for someone else to do it all. They can’t. He needs every one of us listening to the guiding voice of His Spirit and He speaks to all of us every day.

The Holy Spirit flows like a river, and we need to become a part of that river of living water that flows at His direction, ministering to the needs of those around us. God’s heart from the beginning of the Bible to the end is clearly to be directed toward the poor, the homeless, the widow, the orphan, the weightier things of the law. A reformation is needed in the Body of Christ, a reformation that will bring us into God’s perfect will with mercy, righteous judgment, faith and love as our primary motivation. Then the world will see Jesus.

Samuel said, Has the Lord as great a delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 1 Sam 15:22 AMP

Christy Lynne Wood

But First We Are People

We recently took our kids to Chicago for a quick weekend. I’m not a city girl, not by a long shot, but I do like a good adventure. My husband is also pretty willing to take a chance. So, after finding a great deal on a hotel north of the city, we decided to take the Metra train into Chicago for the day and then use buses to travel around. It seemed like a good idea. We weren’t exactly familiar with public transportation, but how hard could it be?

Almost impossible actually.

Buying our train tickets online was a breeze. Getting onto our train and traveling into Chicago was exciting. And that’s where the fun ended.

Silly me assumed that once we got into the transportation center there would be an information desk where a nice person would tell us which bus to take and where to find it. I was wrong.

Instead we were dumped into a vast sea of people who were all in a tremendous hurry and knew exactly where they were going. There was no information desk of any kind. We finally found a bus stop outside with a map, but it made absolutely no sense.

And there we were, in downtown Chicago, with our two young children, and no clue what to do next. The Internet was as useless as the bus map since all the websites we found already expected you to know how to use the bus system.

When you are a country girl, the big city can be a scary place.

After wandering around for half an hour, we eventually ended up back inside the transportation center where we found a nice woman at a ticket counter who told us that we could buy bus tickets in the waiting room. Unfortunately the ticket machine was in cahoots with the bus map and Internet sites and was less than helpful. While we stood there trying to make sense of anything, a girl came up with her bus card. She was attempting to put more money on it, but as I just said, the machine was totally uncooperative. I jumped in to help and together we figured it out.

While my new friend and I were wrestling with the ticket machine, a young man appeared behind us. He explained the process of getting and using tickets to my husband and then pulled three single-use tickets out of his wallet and just gave them to us. We tried to pay him, but he waved us off. Beyond grateful, and with tickets in hand, we headed back down to a bus stop that we were reasonably certain was headed to Navy Pier.

Within minutes a bus sporting a beautiful 124 pulled up and the doors opened. The bus driver confirmed he was the bus to Navy Pier, but then told us he was going the wrong direction. His bus just left Navy Pier and was on it’s way back into the city. The right bus stop was across the street, but it had just left. Seriously?

The driver took a look at our dejected faces and told us to get in. That sweet older man not only gave us a free ride, he also explained the bus system to us including telling us about an app that we could download to give us real time bus locations and arrival times.

My faith in humanity was restored. It didn’t matter that my friend at the ticket machine was Asian and that English was obviously not her first language. It didn’t matter that the man who gave us free tickets was heavily pierced and tattooed. It didn’t matter that our kind bus driver was an older African American. And it didn’t matter that I was a white, suburban housewife. Because, first we were people. People who cared, and stepped up, and helped one another.

I think about the state of our sadly divided country right now, and I shake my head. And then I honestly wonder if we are as divided as the media, and politicians, and other people in power want us to think we are.

If we had stopped to talk about politics or religion or anything like that, these people of Chicago and I would probably have had different opinions. But those opinions don’t actually matter when it came to connecting as human beings. Because as humans we have more commonality than we have division. At our core we feel, and love, and long, and need the same. We all share the deep things that make us people.

We don’t have to believe exactly the same to love one another. And just because we disagree in some areas doesn’t mean that we have to hate each other. Different isn’t bad; it’s just different.

There is so much fear in our world these days. At least that’s what the news and social medias tell us. We are afraid and must be afraid of anyone who is different than us. That is the message drilled in over and over from both sides. But it’s simply not true.

I’ve been working on Chapter Nine of my book Impostor Jesus: Rejecting Religion in a Search for the Real God. Chapter Nine is all about being motivated by fear. Here is a little excerpt from the rough draft.

“Fear is an excellent motivator if you want power. Capitalize on people’s fears, convince them you have the only answer, and they will give you control. I see this in so many areas of life these days. People often make choices about schooling, health, vaccines, or politics based on fear. It might not be obvious on the surface, but if you look closely, you will see the familiar underlying motivations. Social media, blogs, the Internet in general, these are all excellent ways to spread fear. People in power like to use fear because it works; I know that personally. Which is partly why, as I began to get to know the Real Jesus for myself, the things I had been taught began to make less and less sense.

Fear is not from the Real God. He is not a God of fear. He doesn’t use fear to control us. These are important truths to grasp in our minds and believe in our hearts…”

I wonder what it would look like to live in a world without fear, or at least with less fear. What would happen if we refused to give into the fear driven story-line portrayed by the media? What if we purposely chose to get to know people who are different from us just to discover their beautiful humanity and the things that we do have in common?

Guys, the only people benefiting from our fear are the ones in power. And I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of that. I’m tired of the drama, and the fighting, and the politics. I want to live real life with the real and precious people around me. I want to broaden my own perspective by learning from people who are different from me. I want to practice acceptance, and grace, and love. I want to get out of my comfort zone and experience the richness that comes from diversity. Will you join me?

The Christianese Religion and the Real Jesus

The scariest thing about the Christianese Religion is that you don’t even notice you are following it until it stops working for you. The formulas, phrases, and culture seem good and real while you are in the bubble. The things you do and believe appear to be genuine. You are part of a community that is like-minded.

What do I mean by the Christianese Religion? In his book Recapturing the Wonder: Transcendent Faith in a Disenchanted World, Mike Cosper says this, “Religion is the business of appeasing gods.” For the past year, I have not been able to get that sentence out of my mind. It finally connected the dots between the ten years I spent in a cultic sub-culture of Christianity and the disillusionment people experience within “normal” church.

When we are religious (which we naturally are), we are focused on behaviors. We are trying to do things in order to please God. But often the god in our head is more of a concept that a Being. We make him in our own image and shove him into a box. And in our obsession with performing correctly we completely miss the Real Jesus.

Christianese works great until it doesn’t. If that has happened to you, then you know. Maybe you got on the wrong side of the spiritual authority or you asked the wrong questions and felt the sharp sting of rejection. Maybe life fell apart and suddenly you realized that the pat answers no longer satisfied the deep brokenness of your heart. Empty religion may appear to work for a while, but it will always leave you searching for more. Because your soul wants Jesus.

There was a reason Jesus spent all of His time with the social outcasts and religious rejects. They knew they needed Him. They were broken and ready to hear His words of life.

The Pharisees had their religious system down and they missed God walking in front of them. I’m afraid the same thing is happening in churches all across the country. We are substituting religious experiences for the Real Jesus. But well-meaning people don’t even notice…because right now the system and the culture are working for them.

Maybe brokenness and disillusionment is actually a blessing because it opens our eyes to the emptiness of religion. Maybe not fitting in or feeling rejected is actually a good thing because it causes us to seek for more. I pray that our seeking bring us to the feet of the Real Jesus!!

(This story is paraphrased from John chapter eight.)

She stood there silently, her head bowed in shame. They wanted to stone her. And according to the law, those religious leaders had every right. She’d been caught in the very act of adultery. But they were using her as a test, and now they waited to see what the young rabbi would say.

He didn’t say anything, just knelt down next to her, and began to write with his finger in the dirt. She saw his hand out of the corner of her eye, felt his presence next to her. He ignored the clamoring crowd and was silent as he drew. Finally, he stood. “Any of you who are without sin can be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again, he knelt next to her and quietly wrote in the dirt with his finger. That was it. There was an awkward silence.

After a moment, she noticed that the crowd seemed smaller. Peering through her hair, she realized that the religious men were slowly leaving. Eventually, it was just her and Jesus alone on that dusty patch of earth. He looked at her. She lifted her head. “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” His voice was kind. She looked around; they were all gone.

“No one, sir.”

“I don’t condemn you either.” He smiled. “Go, and from now on sin no more.”

“Unhitching” from a Misused Old Testament

On Wednesday, The Christian Post ran an article about Pastor Andy Stanley’s recent sermon where he states that, “Christians need to unhitch the Old Testament from their faith.” The Internet went crazy.

I’ve taken three days to think and process before I respond. Because, while I disagree with Pastor Stanley, I also agree. I believe that we do need to abandon the Old Testament in a way…just not the way he suggests.

Stanley expressed concern that the Old Testament has caused people to leave their faith, and he wanted people to reconsider a Jesus without all the baggage of the the “Jewish Scriptures.” Unfortunately, while that’s really sweet, it doesn’t exactly line up with 2 Timothy 3:14-17. Paul is talking to his young disciple, Timothy.

“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

Since Timothy grew up while the New Testament was being written, all he had were the Old Testament Scriptures. He learned them from childhood and they gave him wisdom to understand salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Wait! Aren’t these the same Scriptures Andy Stanley is worried will push people away from faith?

Paul very clearly tells us that all Scripture has been breathed out by God. Peter confirms this in 2 Peter 1:20-21.

“Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

Again, since the New Testament was still being written, both Peter and Paul are referring to the “Hebrew Bible” as Pastor Stanley called it.

Can I make a bold statement?

The problem isn’t with the Old Testament itself. The problem is what Evangelical Christianity has been doing with it, often with the very best of intentions.

Well meaning pastors, Sunday school teachers, and college professors teach the historical stories and add opinion and explanation that just isn’t in Scripture. It’s not always wrong, but that doesn’t make it right.

I’m reading Judges right now in my morning Coffee & Jesus time and I’m in shock. Half of what I assumed was in there just isn’t. There are no cute morals, or mysterious formulas, or detailed exposes. It’s just history. Stories of God and people. The thing that is hitting me the most is the utter lack of condemnation. The people are messed up, and God patiently uses them anyway with abundant grace. Maybe He’s always been like that.

Why do we feel the need to add a moral or a formula to every Bible story? Why do I have to find a way to apply them to my life? I don’t apply George Washington to my life! Can’t I just read these stories of real people, observe their successes and failures and be awestruck by God’s absolute faithfulness?

The Old Testament has also been horribly misused across Christianity. It gets distorted in an attempt to control people all the time. Where did my old cult leader get most of his ideas? By using the Old Testament out of context. In fact, just about every strange group or slightly-theologically-off person I’ve ever come in contact with was was basing their beliefs on the Old Testament.

We need to acknowledge a fact. The number of people who have been spiritually abused by a misapplication of the Old Testament is devastating. Which is why I agree with Andy Stanley that we need to unhitch ourselves from the Old Testament…just not from the real one.

Instead of unhitching from the Old Testament, let’s ditch the one we think we know and start over. Let’s read it correctly and in context.

If it’s a history book, then enjoy the stories of God interacting with His precious creation. Watch for the hints that a Savior is coming, and marvel at the appearances of the pre-incarnate Jesus.

If it’s a law book, then stand in awe of the fact that it was never actually about those laws. It was always pointing us to Christ and our need for a Savior. Remember that Jesus came and fulfilled every bit of that law for us.

If it’s a book of prophecy, then be struck by awe and slight terror as God describes Himself. Rejoice at the fact that Jesus fulfilled over 300 prophecies when he came to earth. (Side note: we have GOT to stop trying to apply those prophecies personally. Most prophecies are specific to Israel and have already been fulfilled.)

If it is a book of songs, then experience the beautiful, raw emotion of an intimate relationship between a human being and their Creator.

And if we are confused or have a problem with something as we read the Old Testament, let’s wrestle with it. Dive into Biblical culture and the customs of the day. Dig, seek, and ask questions. But please don’t read someone else’s blog (even this one) and just believe their opinion.

We need the whole Bible to get a accurate picture of God, ourselves, and our Savior, Jesus Christ. We can’t trash parts because they are confusing or uncomfortable. But we can take the time to wrestle through them for ourselves. That wrestling will bring us face to face with an unexpected God who is patiently waiting to reveal Himself to those who seek.

The real Jesus is worth it! But don’t take my word for it.

“It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world” John 4:42.