DELETE OUR CHURCHES
Come On In, Jesus!
Additionally
Below you will also find “A Christmas Pageant vs.
An Idol.”
Addiction & The Institutional
Church
Pardon me for ruffling
your orthodox feathers, but I’m persuaded it is
self-evident the vast majority of believers are addicted to and enslaved by the
institutional church, traditionally alluded to as the Religious Establishment. It’s a matter worth pondering.
Hundreds of thousands of believers are plagued with this dilemma,
considering we were “brought up in the church,” we were taught “church,” we
were indoctrinated with “church,” we were faced with the “right church” from
childhood, we were told that “Jesus established a church.” In essence, we have
been brainwashed with “church.” As a result, we reject anything in our walk
with the Lord that does not march under the banner of “church.”
We have to get away from this thing called “church” and get back to
where Jesus wants us to be. There were no churches and church edifices during
the formative years of the redeemed community. Yet there were communities or
congregations of believers! Man founded churches. Jesus founded His new
community. There is not one church in existence whose author is Jesus. Yet He
has children in most of them. One brother wrote:
“I believe I understand
what you are saying. Man has jurisdiction over the Church, but Christ has
jurisdiction over His Ekklesia. Is that right so
far?”
Only partially. Man founded
churches (divisive parties) and therefore controls them. Jesus founded
His ekklesia (community or congregation) and
reigns as its Head and King. His community is composed of all of those who have
been born anew, and they can be found in almost every
sect or divisive party.
Is There A Solution?
What, then, is the
solution to the mess we’ve gotten ourselves into? The
solution, as I see it, is to cast aside our divisive parties or churches and be
believers only—not the only believers, but believers only. Not a
believer plus a Methodist, not a believer plus a Baptist, not a believer plus a
Church of Christer, not a believer plus a Christian Churcher, but a believer only. Unless Jesus is the author
of our labels, toss them to the wind. Cast them forever away and unite under
the banner of Jesus only. For Jesus is not the author of the Baptist Church ,
the Methodist Church ,
the Roman Catholic Church, the Church
of Christ Church
We delight in thinking that our church is what Jesus founded. But we’re wrong—one-hundred percent wrong. All of the other
sects labor under the same mistaken idea. And they are
just as right—or wrong—as we are. Let Jesus be the center of our walk, not
churches or religious sects. One reader inquired:
“So, Buff, your belief is
that the church for which Christ died is just a conglomeration of sects (known
as denominations), and of which the Church
of Christ
“If what you say is true, then let me say that this is not of Christ,
but of men. The church that Christ built is not a denomination. Jesus said, ‘I
will build my church’ (Matt. 16:18). He used the singular number. He built only
one church. All others were started by men.”
First off, as I’ve stated numerous times—and
produced documentation—Jesus did not die for a church—any church. Churches were founded by men. Furthermore, Jesus did not say
in Matthew 16:18, the verse our brother quoted, “I
will build my church.” Churches, such as we have today, did not have their
genesis until hundreds of years after Jesus founded His new order or community.
“I will build my church” is not—I repeat, is not—in the oldest Greek
manuscripts. But here is what we do find in the oldest
Greek manuscripts, “I will found my community”—or congregation.
“Unite The Christians In All The
Sects”
God’s community or
congregation is in exile over the hills and in the valleys of sectarianism.
This is why Thomas and Alexander Campbell, Barton W. Stone, Walter Scott, and
other reformers sought to “unite the Christians in all the sects.” Their
movement was indeed a noble movement, but down the road it divided and
subdivided and divided again until today we have a dozen or more factions that
make up the movement they launched, with each splinter group claiming to be the
“one body” of believers spoken of in Ephesians 4:4.
Our divisive religious parties do not represent what Jesus
founded, nor any of their off-shoots. They are part of
the problem, not part of the solution. I was brought up in the non-instrumental
music
What, Then, Did Jesus Usher In?
Jesus
founded a new people, a new Israel
(not National Israel ,
but spiritual Israel music
Church
Jesus’ bride is not a sect or faction or
denomination. Jesus’ bride is composed of those who have accepted Him as Lord
and King and are striving, as best they can, to respond to His grace, wherever
they are found. This is the bride of Christ! Then where is she?
What is her location? She is spread throughout most sects and
churches and denominations. She's in
exile, just as old
Jesus Died For God’s Scattered
Children
Jesus
did not die for churches and sects, denominations, factions, and religious
parties. John
tells us for what He died. Listen to him: “...that Jesus would die for the
Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also
for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one”
(John 11:51-52).
Who is scattered among sects and parties and
factions? God’s children! Now we know why our reformer
forefathers sought to “unite the Christians in all the
sects.” Let us no longer proclaim the
My Story & My Song
This is my story and this
is my song. I shall, with the Lord’s strength, continue
to tell my story and sing my song, with the prayer that someone will listen to
my story and sing the song of unity and reformation. I cannot tell a different
story or sing another song and live with my conscience. I have written what I
have written. Let it be recorded.
A Christmas Pageant vs. An Idol
The First Assembly of God is among the largest denominations in
Brooks and Carol Wilson, two devout Christian friends, accompanied us to
the Pageant. It was elegant in every respect—the singers, the music, the
animals, the actors and actresses—everything. The
mammoth “sanctuary” and all of the balconies were filled
to capacity.
This denomination is known for its generous
contributions to the destitute. The cleric announced that any proceeds up and
above the cost of the production would be distributed
among the poor and less fortunate. And while I do not
believe our Lord founded the “system” in which this church is cemented—as well
as other churches—yet I must admit that many of this church’s programs and
projects are worthwhile causes.
As we sat in the “sanctuary,” I wondered if the exquisite structure had
become an idol to those who frequent its doors---whether consciously or
unconsciously. For if the structure is viewed as some kind of revered design or
looked upon as a sacred project by those who built it and by those who enter
its doors, as is the case in most settings of this kind, it would then indeed
be an idol and those who so perceive it would be bordering idolatry.
I wondered, too, at the beginning of its being blueprinted, if the Lord
would have been more pleased had the leaders decided to take the millions of
dollars it cost to construct the building and use it for evangelism and to
alleviate the needs of the genuinely destitute. Just suppose, for a moment,
that when the plans were being drawn up, the leaders
had announced to their followers:
“Brother and sisters, let us instead divide up and meet in various
homes, or rent some public facility with little or no maintenance expenses, and
take the money we would ordinarily use to build this structure and use it to
reach the unregenerate and to feed and clothe the legitimately poor. We will
financially and adequately support the men we choose to send ‘out among the
lost.’ They will be our evangelists.
“Should we choose the house group format, each
house would select its shepherds. But should we choose
to rent a public facility for our meetings, the entire congregation would ‘look
out among you’ and choose its leaders.
“Of all the proposals we have considered, which one of these would our
Lord consider top priority? Would He want us to spend millions of dollars on a
material structure and neglect the lost and destitute, or would He rather
prefer that we do the latter? As you evaluate the options, please try to recall
that the early believers did not construct elaborate and flashy ‘temples’ in
which to meet, yet they turned the world upside down with the message of
salvation.”
And so I close this segment by asking all of you who are
churchly addicted: What would our Lord recommend, and what would He do, in a
situation like this? I leave the question with you.