The Good Of The Father (Church Reimagined)

Religion has actually convinced people that there is a invisible man living in the sky watching everything you do, every minute of every day.  And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do.  And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever until the end of time!  But he loves you.  He loves you, and he needs money.  He always needs money.  He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow he just can't handle money 

~George Carlin~ 

I recently began a new shift working on Sundays.  For me, the transition wasn't all too difficult.  For a few of those I know, however, you would think that I had just committed the unpardonable sin.  How is it that I could tolerate working on the "Lords day?"  Why had I forsaken the gathering together with other believers?  Those in the mainstream church are quick to point out that we should not forsake our gathering together {To the Hebrews 10:25}.  Pastor after pastor hammers home this point as they try to keep their pews filled each week.  Let me remind others out there about what the author of the Hebrews was referring to in this much overused passage.  See, back in the day, the believers in Jesus were quick to be persecuted in public.  Therefore, many took to meeting in secret.  The author of Hebrews, knowing the persecutions those of the faith faced daily, still encouraged the believers in Christ Jesus to not forsake meeting together despite the persecutions they often faced.  So, tell me, how does this history fall in line with a mainstream church pastor trying to fill the pews of his church?  I would say that believers today have not been persecuted to the point of death, as those of old were.  I would also like to point out that I have not forsaken gathering with other believers despite my reluctance to give into the pressures of the institutional church.  For the church that I walk into each and every day is not the church of some Pharisee school bred pastor, but of the church of the body of believers in Jesus, the Ecclesia.  It is Christ Jesus Who is the head of this body of believers {Paul to the Colossians 1:18}.  Knowing this, I do not need to turn to some brick and mortar mainstream type of church in order to be among the body of believers.  Each day when I walk into the gym which I frequent, I am walking into the church of the Ecclesia of Jesus.  The gathering of the body of believers.  We might not have a choir, offering or other institutional church traditions, but here we are free to come to know the truth of He who is the head of the body.  This is church reimagined.  This is also church which far too many in the  mainstream church leadership have shunned for far too long.  To them, the congregation has a duty to God to come together each and every Sunday.  In the Ecclesia, the body of believers are free to assemble whenever and wherever they choose.  

And He is the head of the body, the Ecclesia, Who is sovereign, Firstborn from among the dead, that in all He may be becoming first 

Paul to the Colossians 1: 18, Concordant New Testament 

A large part of living in the freedom of our life in Christ Jesus is living free of the traditions and customs of the traditional mainstream church.  For our devotion has never been to the man-made church, but to Christ Whom we live in union with {Johns Account 14:20}.  Sure, the church speaks to being "Free in Jesus," but they rarely walk the walk.  Instead, they will burden the Ecclesia with the customs and traditions carried on for thousands of years.  If you have ever wondered just what Jesus thought of these man-made traditions, take a good look at His "Woes to the Pharisees" which we find in the book of Matthew {Matthews Account 23: 13-33}.  The Pharisees of Jesus' day had burdened the Lords people with one custom and tradition after another.  Finally, Jesus called them out on it.  He went as far as to proclaim these men serpents and vipers {Matthews Account 23:33}.  Is it any wonder, then, that these same Pharisees sought to kill Him?  Just as I have reimagined church with my gym community, Jesus was proclaiming that the Lords people do the same.  That they not give their loyalties to customs and traditions, but to the Father.  I've often wondered what Jesus would say to our mainstream church pastors of today.  Would we see His "Woe to the pastors?"  I believe that we most likely would.  The Ecclesia is not a community which gathers solely on Sundays, but wherever the believers in Christ Jesus may be.  I am confident in my heart that I engage with this Ecclesia each and every day in my own church community.  

We can't afford any fancy preachin'

We can't afford any fancy church

We can't afford any fancy singing

But you know Jesus has a lot of poor people out doing His work 

~Me and Jesus ~ Tom T Hall 

~Scott~