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\nThe institution known as \u201cThe Church\u201d has been around since mankind began worshiping a reality higher than themselves. It spans across the globe in a variety of formats based on cultural biases, but the underlying premise is universal \u2013 man is not responsible for all which comprises the universe. <\/p>\n
Our recent flavor of The Church evolved during the reign of the Roman emperor Constantine some 400 years after the resurrection of Christ. I would contend however that the proclamation made by Christ to Peter about, \u201c…on this I will build my church\u2026\u201d has never been what The Church developed into. Even today, whether eastern or western in origin, the franchise we know as The Church across the denominations really has one thing in common: There is nothing common.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not here to bash the differences in denominations. Church has a function and purpose as I have already stated \u2013 man is not responsible for all which comprises the universe. It is the place where, as Paul describes, like-minded people assemble to worship and pray. It is the place where followers hear the word of God about the works of God. It is the place where people commit their lives to\u2026<\/p>\n
To what exactly are people committing themselves to in The Church? Many take oaths to the denomination creeds which limit the type of beliefs you can have and practice. Many commit their lives to the people of their immediate fellowship. Many commit to turning from their immoral lifestyle to a moral lifestyle predicated on Old Testament rules. Many commit to never associating with the \u201cworld\u201d since only their perception of spiritual reality is true, and others are demonic. <\/p>\n
This last claim is possibly the greatest crux to The Church. It is the man-made perceptions of reality which deny or just plain ignore the spiritual Truth of reality. A crux, by definition, is a cross, a pivotal point of demarcation. Christ has always been the crux to The Church. <\/p>\n
The Church creates followers of Christ. That is its mission. Sermons and lessons abound to drive home the point that a holy life is found by being a follower of Christ. The Church glosses over the fact that during the days of Jesus, it was his followers who demanded that he be crucified. Sure, The Church will glorify the good deeds done by Jesus since this builds faith in the hearts of those who today need something similar to occur in their lives. But when the miracle fails to happen or the pain (physical, emotional, or mental) becomes too great to endure and there is no relief, no comfort, no view of a savior on the horizon, crucify is the cry most often heard. <\/p>\n
Such is the life of being a follower \u2013 up one moment and then in the dregs the next. This cycle typically runs its course weekly. Up on Sunday into Monday; declining into Tuesday; bottoming out Wednesday afternoon just in time for the Wednesday service or bible study which will lift you back up into Thursday; declining once again into Friday afternoon and subsiding through Saturday, until it starts all over again on Sunday. Every week; for some, for a lifetime.<\/p>\n
The Church knows this to be humanly true. Their message and its dissemination perpetuate the cycle. It has crafted a message wholly designed to create and maintain followers. Yes, there may be a counter claim that The Church is creating believers, yet this is not evident even in the smallest population base within any denomination. This is what The Church cannot admit: Believers are disciples.<\/p>\n
I can assure you that my claim is not a matter of semantics. Followers, believers, and disciples are not the same. Jesus had multitudes of followers but only twelve disciples. Those twelve were believers through their daily interaction with Jesus. Their testimony as a believer was founded on a daily encounter and the relationship shaped by it. Each of the disciples had an independent relationship with Jesus while still having a relationship with each other. However, their relationship with each other never made them believers in Jesus.<\/p>\n
There is not one thing that The Church can do to move anyone from a follower to a believer and then disciple. Teaching will not do it; more prayer; greater worship; outreaches to the community; deeper bible study; cell or home groups; conferences and seminars; healing service and crusade; evangelists with prophetic words, or any other scripted diversion from the one true need \u2013 an encounter with the Divine.<\/p>\n
According to Christ, the only revelation which will build those who have been called out from the community to lead it will be found in being the Son of the Living God. Not solely Jesus, but each of us. This is the spiritual truth of a believer which no human perception can capture. This is a revelation which each of us must encounter on our journey in life, just like Peter did, not sitting in some seat claimed to be holy by an institution.<\/p>\n
While you might hear it frequently preached that we are sons of God, The Church cannot produce this. Jesus, in his day, was vilified for the claim,<\/p>\n
I and my Father are one. Joh 10:30 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The religious culture of his day had no frame of reference when it came to relating to the Divine on a personal level. Yet, this is what made Jesus so acceptable to the multitudes, people who all their lives had been led to believe that the Creator was so pure that HE would have nothing to do with the creation which had become so polluted. <\/p>\n
This is still the thinking in The Church today even though it was never what Jesus spoke about or implied in any of his parables. Divine sonship is a human birthright which few have acknowledged and even fewer have entered in the manner which Jesus proclaimed. The Church cannot admit this simply because it doesn\u2019t have any leaders who are walking this truth out in public. This is an inner truth which only comes through a revelation to the individual uncovered in meditation. Remarkably, not everyone is ready to receive the revelation or in a place where such a revelation could bubble up from within.<\/p>\n
Once an encounter occurs to someone and their faith shifts to belief, the things which occupy The Church no longer appeal. A person goes from being a bench warmer to a first-string player on a team of One. <\/p>\n
Understanding the revelation of \u201cOne\u201d is not the business of The Church. It is first, and foremost in the business of separation with the hope that one day you will be reunited, but still separate. A divine encounter demonstrates the futility of this model, yet The Church recognizes how this type of occurrence will never happen within its milieu and it is satisfied with the result. <\/p>\n
The spiritual journey is a singular quest which many simply do not have the fortitude to embark upon. There are great rewards, but none of them will appear in The Church. As long as people embrace the institution as a mere gathering place for social activity which caters to the base nature of the human condition, The Church will prosper. Disciples and believers know the difference and respond accordingly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The institution known as \u201cThe Church\u201d has been around since mankind began worshiping a reality higher than themselves. It spans across the globe in a variety of formats based on cultural biases, but the underlying premise is universal \u2013 man … Continue reading