In Gods House

2“But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3“To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4“And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5“Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”
John 10: 2 - 5 NKJV

There is one thing I have noticed about christians.  Well, it applies to most everyone actually.  That is, as christians we tend to follow one person or ideology with which we feel most comfortable.  I look at many of the splintered christian churches around the world and I see this practice in action.  In fact, I've been involved in more than a few churches which have split apart due to internal disagreements.  One pastor leaves the church and takes those who agree with him along with him.  The other pastor(s) remain with the church and retain their own group of...sheep.  There is a common joke out there that christian churches are becoming about as common as Starbucks coffee shops...one on every street corner.  Now, I remember a time when my family went off to church on sunday morning to the church.  When I say "The" church...I mean the only church in town.  One thing I don't remember about growing up is hearing about disagreements which tear at the fabric of every congregation.  In fact, I really didn't began to experience the politics of church administration until I was into my thirties and working with sunday school classes.  It was here where I learned of the other side of the church.  That side of the church where disagreements and arguments are the order of the day.  Sure, you might think that politics isn't prevelant in our modern churches, but I would disagree.  In fact, any time you get more than a few humans together in a large group there are bound to be the usual power struggles, egos and hurt feelings.  Unfortunately, this is the revelation of our own human flesh coming into the forefront.  See, most people attend a congregation where they feel most comfortable, that's a fact.  When we began to feel uncomfortable, our feelings get hurt and we just might feel slighted in some way by others in the congregation.  If enough people in the congregation end up having their feelings hurt, they just might follow their favorite pastor out the door to start their own, more comfortable church.  I get it. 

TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: 24“God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25“Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 26“And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27“so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us."
Acts 17: 23 - 27 NKJV

I must admit, that I have all too often made the mistake of equating God with whatever church building I happened to be in at the time.  How many of us have been invited into "Gods house" on a sunday morning?  I once knew a lukewarm christian man who would playfully ask me each monday morning "did you go to Gods house yesterday?"  It's as if there were one building which God had chosen to infiltrate with His Spirit, and I just happened to be fortunate enough to be in it.  I was surprised one sunday morning when the head pastor of the church I was attending stood in front of the congregation to anounce that he was being led to the Lords new "dwelling place" to start a new church.  Dwelling place?  The apostle Paul made it clear as he preached in Athens that God does not dwell "In temples made with hands" {Acts 17:24}.  Are we to believe that our heavenly Father is confined to whatever building we worship in?  I'd say no, for one very important reason.  God has never been confined to a single building, area or region.  In fact, we no longer need to enter a church building to be in His presence.  We are assured that it is the Spirit of Christ Jesus who lives through us today {Galations 2:20}.  We don't need to go to the "right" church or to follow the most influential pastor in order to experience the presence of Christ.  He's already here.  In fact, if there were to be a pastor who would try to convince me that I could not experience Jesus without following him...I would run as fast as I could in the opposite direction!  If only I knew back then what I know now, I could have avoided a lot of church politics along the way.  These days, my comfort zone in in Christ Jesus, not in in the building someone claims He occupies.

~Scott~