Churchianity

I’m not a Churcher.  I left church as a teenager.  At the time I thought I was committing a sinful act of rebellion.  These many years later, I know that I had been called out.      

Over the next decades of self-study, I learned things on my own in the spirit that I would later hear pastors and preachers teaching from the pulpits and on the interwebs; “sermons” that I had preached at my kitchen table for years.  I learned that teachers and prophets often have a word for me, but a preacher and a church were not necessary to grow in faith and truth.  I learned that the spirit was sufficient.  I came to believe, based on what I saw in the word, that church should serve two functions: provide a place for physical and emotional support, and provide edification through fellowship and gathering.   

Photo Courtesy: https://handlingthewordoftruth.org/
2017/07/24/broken-arrow-how-false-doctrine-has-overrun-american-christianity/

I spent several years searching for a congregation of people who thought as I did.  I walked into church after church that was doing business the same old way.  The rituals varied; some had communion, some had baptismals, some had small groups and some had huge group Bible studies.  The basic format of “church” never varied with the introductory music, the rituals, the sermon, usually the collection plate and announcements, and then maybe snacks or lunch. 

Largely it seems like churches endeavor to gain control.  Control people.  Control their money.  Control their lifestyle choices.  Control their children.  Control their thoughts and ideals.  They use words like “unity” and “authority” to gain compliance.  They cast people out for having radical ideas and turn the weekly gathering of believers into a formulaic ritual.  Anyone who doesn’t agree or fit in or who questions the status quo is asked to leave. 

Authority doesn’t come directly from Elohim.  Authority in the faithful comes to a person when Adonai puts it on the hearts and minds of the believers around them to follow them.  It is the people’s agreement which gives the authority.  The democratic election process is a prime example of this principle.  Without the agreement of the people an authority figure is just a disembodied head.

Church, as we’ve been doing it, is a holdover from the Protestant Reformation 500 years ago, which still maintains the Catholic idea that the pastor/preacher is the representative of god and is therefore the voice of Elohim and should not be questioned.  We no longer live in a time where only the clergy class understands what that book says.  We have no excuse for not reading the word ourselves and applying it to our lives.  There is no procedure in the Bible for churches, their rituals, inquisitions, and thought control.  In fact, if one follows the words of Paul, there should be no single pastor or preacher, no formal worship team, no weekly bulletin, and no formal rituals…just a gathering of folks to discuss the Tanakh, the life of Yeshua, and the way forward, and to break bread together if they can do so without contention.   The idea that one person or a handful of people has all the answers is irresponsible.  

I don’t trust Christianity.  In my lifetime I’ve watched as “pastors” have lead their “flocks” to death in several awful ways, but only after usually enslaving them through their loyalty and faith.  I’ve watched the abuse of children be systematically covered up.  I’ve watched atrocious things done in the name of obedience, and my thought has always been: why would people blindly follow any man or woman?  

Regardless of any anointing any person may have received; an anointing is not a license to control other people. It can be taken away from the person to whom it was given. We see this several times in scripture.  An anointing doesn’t make a person Elohim, Moses, or Jesus.  This person is a still a human being and no more holy than I am.  

It seems egotistical and prideful that church leaders would assume that people should come every single week just to hear them lecture.  As an adult, I’ve gone to gatherings for the intention of hearing a speaker when it was a special visitor or I was lead to witness something that needed to be seen and heard.  I often do sit through a sermon, for various reasons, but week-to-week, that is not why I come.

So, why do I come?  I come to serve Elohim and my fellow man.  I come to sing out loud and join voices to praise my King and Creator.  I come for healing.   I come to be smiled at and hugged.  I come to eat lunch. I come to learn.  I come to give and receive prayer.  To offer my help, if I can.  To see my friends.  I come because I am prompted to and I may have a divine appointment. I come for a lot of reasons.  Hearing another sermon is usually not one of those reasons, and if that’s a requirement of being there, I’m probably not going to come.

What if there were no schedule and no bulletin and no one single person that dictates to everyone.  People could show-up when they wanted. The doors could open at eight or 9 or ten, and they could come and sit and fellowship, have coffee, and watch their children play with one another.  Folks could sign up to speak or sing or read in the main hall.  People could be allowed to prepare a conversation, or a short lecture, or offer to sing a song and share a scripture that was important to them that week.   What if the only set time was lunchtime?  

Churches can evolve.  That may mean being ready to step into strange and unknown places that are slightly uncomfortable at first. It may mean people letting go of their control and allowing the spirit to guide and lead.  It might mean letting people think what they want, even if they disagree with the official doctrine.  It might require humbling.

Every now and again, I find a group that’s close, and I hang around for a while.  Proverbs says that like a dog to its vomit, so a fool will return to his folly.  Different things usually happen, but eventually the same old things happen.  The atmosphere changes from warm and welcoming to rigid and controlled.  People start getting asked to leave for various reasons.  Rules and schedules and committees and control become more important than allowing the spirit to work freely, and more important than the people themselves.  Pretty soon we are all once again sheep being herded from place to place and knocked with the staff of “authority” if we step out of line.  

The pursuit of truth does not require a church, a pastor, or a “body of believers.”  In fact, Biblically speaking, isolation is how word and truth are imparted, and how the soul is tested.  There is a great spiritual awakening happening beneath the surface and under the radar of the churches.  The spirit is calling the people from NOT the churches, because those he called from the churches would rather go to church.   If churches won’t evolve, then the new believers will form their own groups outside of the doctrines of men.  I don’t know exactly what that will look like, but I am excited to be part of the adventure.

Today, churches are failing by the thousands.  Unless change comes church will become a relic of the past.  People don’t want the same old stage show anymore.  They are not interested in politics and power struggles as usual. They don’t even understand it.  They are not interested in being lectured to week after week and told what they should believe and how they should live.  That doesn’t mean they don’t want fellowship, spiritual edification, education, and a chance to serve.  They just crave something better, something open; something real.  If church cannot provide that, then there will be no church.