We are of God. He who knows God is hearing us. He who is not of God is not hearing us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deception
First Epistle of John 4: 6, Concordant New Testament
I had a conversation the other day with a friend who claimed, "I've never been into organized religion." Now, I know this man to be a faithful, God fearing person. Yet, he also correctly has realized that God does not solely exist within the box of organized religion. Growing up in the mainstream church, I was taught that God centered around the church itself. That He lived within the confines of the church. Therefore, I came to believe that to know God was to know and understand the theology spoken by those within the church. For it was these "Men of God" who were seemingly ordained to speak His truth to the masses. That's what we were told anyway. But how close to the truth is this belief? Is God simply confined to the box of the church? I would answer no to that. For if God were confined to the church and those within it, how does that explain those outside of the confines of organized Christianity who have come to the Lord? The late reverend Billy Graham made it his life purpose to gather those who had never known God into coming to know of Him. I say "Know of Him" because knowing God and having that personal relationship with Him are definitely two different things. But, that's a post for another time. For now I'll focus on the misguided belief that to know of God is to know the mainstream church. This is putting God in a box, someplace He was never meant to be. If organized Christianity has taught us anything, it has been a false idea of the Father. The theology that God continues to look upon the sin in our life with disapproval. To that I would say, what sin is that? What sin is there which God has suddenly condemned us? But the church preachers have proclaimed this so it must be true, right? Wrong! This is exactly why the apostle John has called upon us to "Test the spirits to see if they are of God" {First Epistle of John 4:1}. You might think that pastor of yours is speaking the word when all he is doing is repeating the centuries old church theology of God in a box. That if you want to know God, you need to be in church. He is much bigger than that.
After my mother passed away, I spent a good deal of time away from the organized church. Had I grown tired of God? No, just the way that He was being portrayed by those within the church. The final straw came one Easter Sunday morning when the pastor, after preaching that Jesus had died on the cross for the forgiveness of sin, invited anyone who had unconfessed sin in their lives to come forward for prayer. So, you're telling me that Jesus gave Himself for our sakes yet we continue to have sin? How does that work? I decided that this was not the version of God I wanted to know. After I left the church, you may have thought that I had committed some high form of heresy by the way my Christian friends spoke to me. Are you turning your back on God? What sin are you dealing with? The misconception was that because I was no longer attending the church that I was somehow lost. That I had abandoned my faith. In reality, I had not abandoned my faith, but was searching for it. Fortunately, through the companionship of a dear friend, I was introduced to a new, radical way of seeing God. Well, radical in the eyes of the church. I was introduced to a Father Who did not live in the box of the confines of the church. I was introduced to a loving Father who did not condemn me for unconfessed sin. I began to recognize the truth of the Father I had grown up only hearing about. That I was not a sinner, as I had so often been told by those within the church. For it is Christ Jesus who has died to sin "Once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:10}. That I have never been separated from Him, but have been created by Him in His likeness {Genesis 1:27}. To me, this sounded more like a loving Father than the God spoken of by the church.
He who is not loving knew not God, for God is love
First Epistle of John 4: 8, Concordant New Testament
~Scott~
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