The Subversion of Christ's ChurchRock of Offence CommentaryI used to view the church as the safest place a person could go for comfort and direction in life. Yet, "the church" and its godly calling is seriously compromised in these last days. Some people may be confused by some of my statements. In my website articles I tend to support what is called "the church" and then reverse myself and warn the reader about some of its teachings. This apparent contradiction is caused by discussing two different entities, which are commonly understood as "the church" without explaining which one I'm talking about at the moment. I apologize for this lack of detail. Hopefully, I can clear up some of the confusion. The first kind of "church" is the one Jesus Christ established--it's the real and only church (Matt. 16:18). It consists of all those who receive Christ's salvation--it always refers to believers in Christ, never an organization, institution or building. Christ's Church is not affiliated with any earthly denomination, religious organization or institution. Jesus is the head of His Church (Eph. 5:23) and He rules it through the Holy Spirit who indwells all true Christians. The second type of "church" is a man-made earthly organization that proclaims itself as "the church"--but isn't. Usually, a single earthly leader or a plurality of leaders (board) is the head (chief in authority) of this type of church. By "chief in authority" I mean that they position themselves between the Christian and God--redirecting spiritual "obedience" away from God and onto themselves as his "authority" representatives. The majority of professing Christians accepts the man-made organization as the real church. In the middle of this is a "gray area"--a few church organizations that have a similar type of leadership structure or government. Yet, they strive to preserve and protect the relationship that Jesus maintains between Himself and the individual Christian (1 Timothy 2:5)--without interfering or obstructing it. These organizations are rare and are to be commended for honoring one of the most important aspects of Christ's salvation--allowing God's Holy Spirit to be the only "ruler" of His people (Romans 8:14). Yet, despite this good quality these "organizations" are not "The Church". Rather, they contain members of "The Church", which are individual Christians (people) who have faith in Jesus Christ. I know this sounds a bit confusing. Yet, it must be clear that Christ's Church is never an earthly organization or building--it's God's special "called out" people led by God Himself! A lot depends on being able to keep those two things clear in our thinking. Some will say, "Wait a minute! Local churches are spoken of in the Bible. The Apostle Paul mentioned them in his epistles. What about the church at Ephesus, the church of Galatia, the Corinthian church...and the others?" Yes, that's absolutely correct. Yet, the problem lies in thinking that the "churches" Paul mentioned are the same as the ones we call "the local church" today. They are NOT the same. In Paul's time "all Christians everywhere" (individual people) was understood to be "The Church". We can see this from his comments in Romans 16:5 and 1 Corinthians 16:19 where he used the phrase "the church that is in their house" when referring to the Christians that met in private homes at that time. Saint Paul did not call the home meeting "a church"--he called the people "The Church". Individual churches in Paul's writings were all true Christians in a particular locality. The church at Ephesus was all Christians in the city of Ephesus--the church at Rome was all Christians in the city of Rome--the church at Philippi was all Christians in the city of Philippi...and so on. These were not religious organizations. The apostle Paul planted those churches and he made sure they believed and said THE SAME THING. They had little resemblance to what we call the "local church" today which are divided and split between denominations, factions and various conflicting doctrines and traditions. I live in Washington, D.C. Biblically speaking, the local church here is, "the church at Washington", which consists of all true Christians in this city and its suburbs. Yet, there's no "official" gathering of this church because of its size. It's logically sub-divided into smaller groups in local communities. Yet, these local community churches are not necessarily a sub-set of the larger whole. Many believe they are--but they fail to fit God's requirements. If they were part of the larger whole--they would work together, practice the "love of the brethren" (covenant love) toward each other as Paul taught--and SAY THE SAME THING as Paul commanded. These characteristics do not exist for a variety of reasons, which can't be discussed here. These smaller community church "sub-sets" have mutated into separate "church organizations", each proclaiming their own doctrines and traditions which oftentimes clash with other "church organizations" in the mix. For these reasons the separate community "sub-set organizations" are NOT the real church. They are organizations that may have the "real church" in them (in attendance)--but they are not Christ's Church in and of themselves. The church at Washington (as we might know it) has no specific leadership or order because the separate groups that make it up are splintered into many different denominations, groups and factions that don't say the same thing. This pattern is repeated all over America and the world. For the sake of unity some well-meaning individuals attempt to glue it all together. They claim the diversity and "differences" are from God--but the effort is misguided. This practice puts forth a Jesus that speaks inconsistently, contradicts himself and displays multiple personalities--yet continues to be presented as the real Jesus. In order to preserve "Christian unity" Biblical truth has been reduced to the lowest level (or redefined) in order to include everyone. In today's society, to do anything else is inviting all out religious war. This practice presents the world with a Jesus different than the one in the Bible. The world needs to see the real Jesus. What should Christians do? Understanding the problem and staying out of the trap is the first step. You will find that this "first step" will set you free from a lot of religious misconceptions. This does not mean anyone should stop attending church organizations. This is NOT what I'm saying. It does mean that you should start to view the church the way God sees it--not the way religion views it. The religious understanding tends to make the church an organization, institution, denomination or building. This organization can have both true Christians and non-Christians in attendance and still be called "a church". God's view is different. He only recognizes the individual people who trust Jesus Christ for salvation as "The Church"--it's God's family. There's NO denominational, institutional or group label applied to His Church. Non-Christians are not included in God's definition--yet, the welcome mat is always out. Some will not agree with my position and that's to be expected. Most of us (including myself) started as a new Christian in some sort of "church" organization--and there are good ones around! Some may say that I'm "anti-church", but that's not true. There's a big difference in being "opposed to church" and being opposed to a false understanding of the church. I'm against the false understanding of the church that is common in society. As new Christians, we need to learn some spiritual basics--something a solid "church" home can provide. Hopefully we also learn discernment--proving all things as the Apostle Paul commanded (1 Thess. 5:21) before receiving them as truth. It's amazing how many religious leaders discourage people from practicing discernment. Many take the position that they're presenting the truth and you're sinning if you question what they teach. If you've come across this attitude rest assured that God does not support mindless obedience like this. Neglecting discernment today is as dangerous as walking blindfolded onto a busy highway. Leaders who do such things are literally setting church members up for spiritual destruction later in life. I'm not advocating throwing out all authority. In any Christian gathering--even home fellowships--someone needs to be in authority for the sake of establishing order and providing some minimum level of spiritual guidance. Without some authority chaos reigns. But, Jesus made it clear that the authority his leaders exercise is NOT a "Lordship" or "dominion over" authority (Matt. 20:25-28)--and there are no exceptions! Only the Lord Jesus Christ is to have this type of authority...and He exercises it through the Holy Spirit who indwells all of His people. Jesus rules every authentic Christian from inside the body through the Holy Spirit--DIRECTLY. It is this characteristic that separates New Testament Christians from God's people under the Old Testament. Jesus does not "delegate" His Lordship authority to anyone! When church organizations usurp (and many do) this Lordship-type authority over individual Christians it effectively destroys the vital relationship with the true head of the Church--Jesus Christ. Massive spiritual damage is done, but no one notices because most church services and activities can continue with or without God's involvement! Most people either can't tell the difference, they refuse to see the difference (denial) or they're avoiding their spiritual responsibility to discern the truth--its painful work! In the end, Jesus will not allow you to blame-shift the consequences of false beliefs to some pastor, bishop, priest or leader. He expects you to develop your discernment skills--and use them. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit as teacher to help us in this task (John 14:26). This is one reason the baptism in the Holy Spirit is so important. Yet, it is rejected or considered unnecessary in many "churches" today. Hmmm...I wonder why? |
