Romans 12: 5 NKJV
It's amazing these days that one hardly needs to wait for anything. From service on the spot to a coffee shop on every corner, you can pretty much see that we have become accustomed to having our needs met at microwave speeds. This desire for immediate gratification has even made it into the world of Christianity. Everywhere you look there is a church dedicated to one belief system or another. Many a pastor, having felt left out in one church, has pulled his boot straps and started a new congregation built upon what he feels is the correct theology. I personally know a pastor who, after having been denied a leadership opportunity, bolted his church to start a new congregation. Well, the trouble is that when he left he took a good number of church members with him. This process of gutting congregations which have been on solid ground for years has become all too common in our own impatient society. We want our Jesus, we want Him our way and we want Him NOW. Now, I'm one whose own views of modern church theologies is well known. I believe that we have turned our church congregations into pseudo political parties with all the drama and politics included. With the scriptures as our backdrop, we push our own view of how Jesus should be. If that doesn't work...we simply start another church. Anyone see the problem with this line of thinking? Instead of seeing Jesus for who He is we mold Him into who we want Him to be. I've often wondered as to how Jesus would see this trend of sprouting churches. We know that it is Christ Jesus who is the head of the body of the church {Colossions 1:18}. So, wherever we go throughout our own search for the truth of Christ, it is He who is the leader. Whichever congregation we feel we belong to, it is Christ who must be at the forefront. To see Him as anything else is in error. So, is it indeed in our ornate church buildings where we will find Him? Is it in the congregation with the most influential pastor where Jesus will set Himself? Well, contrary to popular microwave society thinking, Jesus can be found in neither of these locations. For it is not the best church nor the largest congregation which He will favor. In fact, I have more of Jesus in me than most modern churches, and so do you. What? Heresy? Far from it. It is the apostle Paul who introduces us to the very truth of Christ in Galations. It is not the building which houses the Spirit of Christ, but we ourselves.
"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Galations 2: 20 NKJV
I've come across plenty of people who left one church or another simply because they were looking for Jesus. Well, as we now know, they were looking in the wrong place. We know that the Lord does not dwell in ornate churches or temples {Acts 17:24}. So, if we are indeed seeking out Christ, we need to look elsewhere than where we have been taught to look. I believe that it was never our heavenly Fathers intention to have His Son redeem us only to spend His entire time in the buildings of men. No, I believe that, as Paul told us, that His desire is to live is us. One, as He and the Father are one {John 17:23}. I know, it's a hard concept to understand, but one that, when we fully comprehend who Jesus truly is, is most liberating. Once we see Him for who He is, we cease to continue searching for Him in the most expensive church buildings. Once we come to know Him, we realize that He is closer to us than we have ever known. For brick and mortar are but materials used by men to create that which God has already created in our hearts. It is not the priests or the most influential pastors who have access to Christ. As He is in us, He now endures all which we do on a daily basis. Heresy? Hardly. I believe that men could have saved millions of dollars in construction costs simply by knowing who Jesus really is. I admit that I'm not a patient man, but I know the truth of Christ in me. I don't need to search for a congregation that shares my beliefs in order to find Him. In fact, I'll argue that my views of the truth of Christ would not be received well in too many of todays mainstream churches. There is a reason for that. For if todays pastors preached the truth of Christ in us, what need would we have for churches? Well, I would not drop the wrecking ball on the entire church idea yet. There are many well meaning Christians who continue to fellowship in our houses of worship. I won't deny them that. With a church seemingly on every corner, there are plenty to choose from.
"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. Nor is He worshipped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath and all things"
Acts 17: 24 - 25 NKJV
~Scott~
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