Last week I wrote a blog called, "Sunday Morning Dread" where I express my struggle with the American church.
Someone commented on that blog and below you will see the comment and my response.
"Your brush is very broad, Teresa. The American church is a big place. Are you sure that you don't men the local part of it that you are involved with?"-comment
My Response:
If I meant the local church I am involved in, I would have said that. But I clearly stated "THE AMERICAN CHURCH" The "broad brush" is for a purpose. I have gone to churches all over The West Coast, and Texas. I have friends, who go to churches all over this country and it is not hard to watch a church service anywhere in his nation with the advancement of technology and some online streaming.
If you study the history of the American church, by in large, you will discover that almost every church in America has Catholic roots, and the Catholic Church is rooted in the Jewish Priesthood. Then the Catholic Church split and then split and then split again and again again since Jesus. Even Vineyard has Carholic roots.
Let me bring you back to First century Christians. There were two Types of believers... Those as recorded in the Binle and those who were Pharisees, who believed Jesus, but tried to re-establish the priesthood in the New Covenant. The result was Catholism. The two groups flourished together and separate of one another.
By the time The Roman Empire had peaked, Constantine had become a believer of Jesus Christ and had written a decree that Christianity be the National religion. He turned the pagan temples into places of worship and like the Pharisees, established a level of government hierarchy in the church to maintain control. This was very similar to the Priests of the pagan temples.
After Rome fell, the Dark Ages were upon this world and faith in Jesus was scarce. The Catholic Church maintained a level of Political influence and survived. Most expressions of Christianiy died at that point, because people were mandated to sacraficing to the pagan gods of that time. So true remnant believers went underground.
By the time of the Rennaisance, believers began to surface and the Catholic Church would not allow any Bible to be copied unless in Latin, so the masses believed what was told to them and the priesthood beast grew and grew until it looked demonic!
In steps Martin Luther, who broke off from the Catholic church but still maintained similarities. Then other denominations broke of from Lutheranism, and then broke off from those .. Etc.. All having roots in Catholism.
One of he first noted "Remnant" church to surface, was The Pilgrims The Pilgrims longed for a true Biblical expression of worship that did not tie them to any type of governmental control of religion.
The government control at that time was King James, ie. The King James Bible. The Pilgrims were persecuted so fled to America to be able to have the freedom to worship God in the "true" Biblical form.
They worshipped in America without any interference until the Puritans arrived. The Puritans were a group, who like many groups before them, wanted a reformation of the religion they were a part of. Unlike the Pilgrims who wanted NOTHING to do with any kind of "religion", the Puritans wanted to change things about their religion that benefitted them.
The Puritans eventual exerted ultimate power and authority of religion and drove out and/or persecuted those who did not comply with their religious viewpoints. So, once again, the "priesthood" way in the Christian church came to America.
From the Puritans, so many denominations broke off. Eventually the Catholics and Lutherans made their way to America and even more denominations broke off. Even today, our Non-denominational churches are, in fact, a denomination.
Most churches follow the "Priesthood" pattern in the church, which was supposed to die when Jesus did. He was the final High Priest coming in the perfect Mechezledeck Priesthood. The final sacrifice for the atonement of our sins! No more temple, no more priests, no more sacrifices!
Yet, almost every church in America follows this man made structure in the organized church today! There should not be 1 person over the church! It is supposed to be collaborative, as demonstrated in Corinthians! Jesus is the Head of the church, Ephesians says, not a man!
Please give me Biblical truth that states we are supposed to sit and listen to one man talk about the Bible. And please use the scripture in context. Don't give me scripture about Paul preaching in the temple, because that was not church! That was evangelism to the Jews and Gentiles, who did not know Jesus!
Please give me Biblical reference that says communion is done without a meal. Please give me scripture that says we are supposed to tithe post resurrection. Please give me scripture that says we are supposed to have an order of service that is the same each Sunday. And please give me scripture that says we are supposed to go to Bible college and get a degree to be worthy/qualified/ equipped to minister the gospel.
The problem is... People in this country are so programmed to believe that the way we do church is correct, that they don't even question it. People are so programmed to believe that the pastor is at the head that they don't even know that Jesus is the head of the church and the cornerstone/foundation of the church. People are so programmed to believe that worship is music and songs that they miss out on the intimate encounters with the living God in the everyday, mundane tasks of our life. People are programmed to believe that God is an emotional experience that they can't even grasp what a a relationship with God looks like. People are so dependent on the programming, that they don't know how to depend on the Holy Spirit. People are so used to the church looking like the world... Corporate America... That they are walking away by the masses. People are so used to powerless doctrine that get slaughtered when the enemy comes.
I could go on and on about how the American church has gone so far astray that people who make a commitment to be a Remnant Believer of Jesus Christ are looked at by the "priesthood churches" as dangerous.
It is to be expected though, the Bible does warn about it...
" for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn those ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. 2 Timothy 4:3-4
Ephesians 4:11-16 and Acts 2:42-43 pretty much sums it up!
My prayer for the American church is that we may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that we may walk worthy of The Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in very good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from he power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:9-14
3 comments:
Ephesians 4:11-13
Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church:the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
Sounds to me like some form of structure.
I never said I was against structure! You obviously didn't read my response or blog!!!
Ephesians 4 is the example I gave about how church structure... THE RIGHT WAY!!!
Lets continue that passage...
Ephesians 14-16
... That we should no longer be children tossed to and for and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but speaking truth in love (that's what I am doing) , may grow up in all things into Him who is the head-Christ (who does the Word say the Head of the church is? The pastor? No.. The teacher... No that's not right... The apostle... No.... CHRIST!!!)- from who the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share ( EVERY JOINT, EVERY PART... Not the pastor or leaders only.. EVERY! ) ( and what happens when EVERY PERSON IS SUBJECT TO THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH, Jesus... ) it causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
I never said there was not to be structure... Not once! I said the structure of the American church is modeled after something that Jesus fulfilled when He died on the cross... Church is not supposed to mimic the Jewish priesthood; it is supposed to mimic Christ!
Like I said before, can you PLEASE give me Biblical reference that justifies he American church model?
My whole blog/ response was to give you historical and Biblical evidence of how it is not justified! And I can give you more that was just my summary version.. I have notebooks upon notebooks upon notebooks of 7 years worth of studying about the church, the structure, the history, the Biblical model and the call of the church!
Ephesians 4:11-13
And He(Jesus) gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelist, and some pastors and some teachers, for the equipping of the saints. (These are not positions or titles, they are giftings -see verse 7) ( the purpose of these gifts is to 1. Equip the saints 2. Edifying the body-church 3. Grow up in all things into Christ)
Acts 2:42-43
And. They ( the church) continued steadfastly in ( here is the fundamental structure of church as followed by all New Testament believers until Constantine) 1. The apostles teaching 2. Fellowship 3. Breaking of bread 4. Prayers
(And what happened as a result? The word used is "then" meaning as a result of or after)
"...many wonders and signs were done through the apostles."
The structure of the church is not found in the modern day Priesthood that was supposed to end as a result of Jesus fulfilling the law, but rather in the following of the Word of God. If you study the church in the Word and ask God to give you eyes to see through His filter and not the programming of thousands of years, you may find that your perspective changes.
After all, if you were taught your whole life that 2+2=5 your whole life, and then someone came along and proved to you that 2+2=4. Even with all the proof and evidence it would be hard to accept because you were programmed to believe the answer was 5.
The same is true here. I am not expecting you to believe that 2+2= 4 right away... You are going to have to deprogram. If you want me to believe that 2+2=5, I would appreciate a little more evidence then "broad stroke" and "sounds like structure to me"
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