God Vs. "Church"

It seems that today the majority of people are fed up, disenfranchised, disconnected, and so on with "Church." The idea of having to go to a building for an hour or two a week just because maybe you're "supposed too" really doesn't cut it for majority of people today. In tough economic times, people grow tired of hearing that God wants them to give more, more, more, so He can continue doing His work and convert more people into Church pews. I think the bottom line, to quote Solomon, is that for most people Church is "Nothing new under the sun."

In my view, the problem is that people confuse Church and church (and for good reason). The denominational Church system is designed for one thing: to sustain itself. And in order to do that, it needs to get more tithe giving units, a.k.a butts in pews. That's why evangelists always talk about the number of baptisms or the number of people introduced to Jesus, which of course encourages people to give more to the evangelism funds and causes that all Church's have. What they rarely (I'd go so far as to say never) tell you is how they connected all those new conversions with a church in any sustainable way. The evangelist preacher moves on to the next town, and doesn't really think about what the next step for the new converts might be.

For those already in the church, it's all about tithe and offering (because tithe is never enough). God, in His wisdom, asks for 10% of our increase, so if you got laid-off your job and and struggling to survive on savings, God does not ask you for 10% of what you have left. The Church, on the other hand, talks about the need for money and funds to do this, that, and the next thing, and the 10% minimum is just never enough. And then you end up repeating the evangelistic rally I described a second ago. That is the nature of the denominational system. It cares only about sustaining itself and not a whit about people's relationships with God. It's just a system, after all.

I mentioned that there is also church. This is made up of local people who study together, fellowship together, and are on a journey with each other. The ministry the church does is in how the lives of its people are lived, and that includes helping and supporting others in need. God calls us from the front of the Bible to the back to take care of the poor. Jesus Himself said that "You will always have the poor among you, and you can help them whenever you want to. But you will not always have me." (Mark 14:7).

If you read Acts, you see that this connected group of people, this church, prayed together. With each other, for each other. They pooled their possessions and shared what they had. The result was that there was not ONE needy person in that whole group of thousands (Acts 4:32-25)! And their ranks grew because people saw how much these people loved each other, just as Jesus had told them to do (John 14:34-35). That didn't mean that their lives were easy, more often than not they were persecuted and killed, but they could count on each other for comfort and support no matter WHAT they struggled with! They lived truly as the prophet Zephaniah says:

Seek the Lord, all who are humble,

and follow his commands.

Seek to do what is right

and to live humbly. (Zeph. 2:3)

Personally I don't often attend a high Church service. When I do sit in an actual service, I'm fortunate enough to have found one that tries to be connected in this way, and even if I'm not physically there I'm blessed that the service is streamed live online so I'm able to connect in some way. But what I do go to every week, almost without fail, is a small group study. That, truly, is my church. We study together, journey together, socialize and fellowship together. We have different tastes, opinions, and ways of doing things, but we're in this together, and it's wonderful. To me, that is truly my church.

In the end, I think that the denominational system Church (any denomination) does a lot to impede people forming a meaningful relationship with Jesus. Not that it can't happen, but it's made more difficult. To me, the essence of church is those personal connections we make with fellow sinners who don't have all the answers, either. People we can study, learn, and grow with as we all seek to build that personal relationship with our loving God.

That's how I see it, anyway. I do hope that no matter your views on things, we find the friends and fellowship with other people who are seeking a connection with God (and don't have all the answers).

In Persecution, the Light Carries On

If you look back in history, after the Apostles had all died off, the Church admirably carried on their work with zeal for a couple hundred years. But over time, the Church (shortly thereafter called the 'Catholic' or 'Universal' Church) begin to become enamored with its own power and authority. After Constantine gave it power in the State, the egocentrism exploded, like fuel on a fire.

God spoke of this when He said: "I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.

"But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches." (Rev. 2:2-5)

They did start out strong, and while many began to accumulate power in their own understanding and were able to use religion for personal influence, there were some who remembered the teachings of Jesus and His Apostles, some who, against all odds, stayed true to the simple law of God (Matt. 22:37-40):

1. Love God
2. Love Others
   

The Waldenses stayed true to God, and the Catholic Church declared them heretics—the group's principal error was "contempt for ecclesiastical power"—that they dared to teach and preach outside of the control of the clergy "without divine inspiration." As such, these devout followers of God were persecuted, murdered, chased into the hills, but they could not be extinguished! They realized fully what the Apostle Peter spoke of:

"Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong! Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit." (I Peter 3:13-18)

The Waldenses realized, as the Apostle Paul had centuries before, that following God was the greatest thing a person could do. They saw, as Paul did, that "[E]verything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith." (Phil. 3:8-9)

The Seventh-day Adventist church has always identified with the Waldenses and their plight. One of the church's founders, herself a young adult at the time, wrote of work of the Waldenses of carrying the light of truth out of the dark ages and following the Spirit of God above all else. The zeal of Mrs. White and her young adult contemporaries ignited a movement that would become the Adventist Church.

But, just as the Catholics of old, the founders died off and the Church retreated from spreading the Word to upholding the institution. No longer is "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength." and "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Mark 12:30-31) the bottom line. These days, you can't really love God unless you're a good Adventist and fully embrace all the Church's theology and teachings (because that makes you a good Christian follower of God). And you can't really love your neighbor unless you can convert them and have them baptized into the Adventist Church.

Fortunately, even in these trying times, when the Church holds secret meetings to find the best way to extinguish Word of God (and let's face it, throughout the entire history of humanity this has taken place) that deviates from the man-made theology, the Spirit of the Lord will preserve the Lord's truth and, like Peter and John of old, God's followers will stand up and say: "Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard." (Acts 4:19-20).

And to those who meet in secret meetings, councils, synods, to extinguish the Spirit of Truth because it doesn't match your human theology, I pray that you remember the wise words of Solomon:

"God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad." (Eccl. 12:14)